Puerto Rico, USVI to receive $108m to upgrade water systems
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — The US Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday that Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands will receive a total of nearly $108 million to improve drinking water infrastructure across the US territories.
Puerto Rico is slated to get $62 million and the US Virgin Islands nearly $46 million.
The money is part of a push by the administration of US President Joe Biden to improve drinking water systems and remove lead pipes.
Federal officials said Congress appropriated an additional $6 billion for water projects in US states and territories as part of the $550 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that Biden signed in November 2021.
Officials said the money will target disadvantaged communities. Puerto Rico, an island of 3.2 million people,d has a 46 per cent poverty rate. The US Virgin Islands, a three-island territory of 87,000 people, has a poverty rate of nearly 20 per cent.
