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Gov. Kay Ivey has awarded a $650,000 grant to help the city of Linden restabilize its water system and avert costly overruns.

The city will use the Community Development Block Grant to construct a new water well, after another main well began declining water production. As a result, the city’s utilities board had to purchase additional water from another water system placing a financial strain on the city. 

“Having a clean and plentiful source of water is a fact of life for residents and businesses in any city or town in Alabama,” Ivey said. “This grant to the city of Linden will assure water customers that they will continue to have a ready supply of available water for their use.”

Linden’s 25-year-old well near the Dayton community in eastern Marengo County began experiencing a decline in output in 2022 and that water reduction is growing, according to city officials. That decline has caused the Linden water system to have to make up the water loss by purchasing water from the Uniontown and Hale County water systems, an expense the city cannot afford long-term.

CDBG funds along with $350,000 supplied from the city utilities board will be used to drill a new well to replenish that lost source of water. Along with reducing water purchases from other systems, the new well will replenish the city’s water supply along with lowering operations and maintenance costs for the Linden utilities board.

The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs is administering the grant from funds made available by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“ADECA is pleased to be a partner in this project to help the city of Linden restore its water supply and give reassurance to water customers that their needs will be met,” ADECA Director Kenneth Boswell said.

Ivey notified Linden Mayor Gwendolyn Rogers that the grant had been approved.

ADECA administers an array of programs supporting law enforcement and traffic safety, economic development, energy conservation, water resource management and recreation development.