Public Input Sought on Delaware’s Clean Water Trust Strategic Plan and Annual Report

15-Day Input Period to Begin Jan. 3 Seeking Ideas for How the Trust Can Help Support Water Quality Improvements

With the Delaware Clean Water Trust Oversight Committee having adopted the final draft version of the Strategic Plan along with an annual report, a 15-day public input period which is to begin Jan. 3 offers an opportunity for Delaware residents and interested parties to tell how they feel the trust can support water quality improvements in the state with funding through the Delaware Clean Water Act.

The committee was created by the Clean Water for Delaware Act to advise the Governor and the General Assembly, provide oversight of Clean Water Trust funding and finances, and publish an annual report and strategic plan for clean water. The committee oversees the Clean Water Trust account.

The Clean Water Trust account includes bond appropriations for clean water, the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund, and the Resource, Conservation, and Development funds for water quality and water-related projects. Part of the process for publishing the strategic plan and annual report includes providing the public the opportunity to offer input and suggestions for consideration in subsequent updates to the plan and future annual reports.

Since Clean Water Trust funding touches almost every aspect of water quality improvement and water-related projects in the state – including infrastructure for drinking water, stormwater and wastewater; drainage programs; waterway management and beach preservation, and many other projects funded by state and federal resources such as the conservation reserve enhancement program, conservation cost-sharing and tax ditches – the 15-day input period provides the public a chance to submit thoughts and ideas that might be used by the Trust in the years ahead.

This is particularly advantageous for the public since the Clean Water Trust also works with Governor Carney’s Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities that is a major component of DNREC’s environmental justice work with the state’s low-income, disadvantaged and underserved communities.

The 2023-2027 strategic plan, the FY22 annual report, as well as the input form can be found at de.gov/cwi. Public input and ideas are encouraged to shape future updates to the plan for trust priorities and strategies.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Environmental Finance team administers Delaware’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund, making funding available to municipalities, the private sector, nonprofit organizations and individuals. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter) or LinkedIn.

Media contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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Public Input Sought on Water Trust Priorities and Projects

Strategic Plan Comments Sought in Jan. 25, Feb. 2 and Feb. 10 Virtual Meetings

The Delaware Clean Water Trust Oversight Committee will host three virtual public information sessions to hear from Delaware residents and businesses about how the trust should support water quality improvements with historic dedicated funding through the Delaware Clean Water Act, signed into law last fall by Governor John Carney.

The Clean Water Trust input and information sessions are set for 9 a.m., Tuesday, Jan. 25; 1 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 2; and 6 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10. More information about the Clean Water Trust sessions can be found on the DNREC online calendar, de.gov/dnrecmeetings.

The Delaware Clean Water Trust oversees $50 million in the Fiscal Year 2022 budget as a funding source for water quality and water-related projects. The trust’s strategic plan will be the major topic of discussion at the virtual public meetings, as DNREC and the trust oversight committee seek input on the strategic plan through public comment. The committee was created by the Clean Water for Delaware Act to advise the Governor and the General Assembly, provide oversight of the Clean Water Trust account, and publish an annual report and strategic plan for clean water.

A draft of a strategic plan framework is available at de.gov/cwi and will be presented at the meetings, but only as a starting point for public discussion. Public input and ideas are needed and encouraged to form the basis of the plan for Trust spending.

Clean Water Trust funding will touch almost every aspect of water quality improvement and water-related projects in the state, including: infrastructure for drinking water, stormwater and wastewater; drainage programs; waterway management and beach preservation, and many other projects funded by state and federal resources such as the conservation reserve enhancement program, conservation cost-sharing and tax ditches.

The Clean Water Trust also works with Governor Carney’s Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities that is a major component of the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s environmental justice work with the state’s low-income, disadvantaged and underserved communities.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov or Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

Agreement Signed by DNREC, DHSS to Connect Donovan Smith Community to Public Sewer and Water

$5.6 Million in Funding to Lewes BPW for Pilot Project of State’s Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities

Delaware state agencies today officially moved to connect the Donovan Smith community in Lewes to municipal water and sewer, which is the pilot project of the Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities established by Gov. John Carney.

A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed today by the secretaries of the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) and the Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) to authorize a $2.74 million loan to the Lewes Board of Public Works (Lewes BPW) for connecting the Donovan Smith manufactured home community into Lewes’ central sewer system, and a $2.87 million loan to Lewes BPW for connecting the community to the Lewes municipal water system.

The projects will be funded by loans from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) and the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF). Under the terms of the MOU, once construction is complete, the loans will be forgiven. While the MOU and other legal documents for the transaction must still be signed by Lewes BPW, the city of Lewes, the community owner Donovan-Smith MHP, LLC and the community owner’s loan servicer, respectively, negotiations among all parties over the last several months have been finalized and all parties are expected to fully execute the legal documents in the coming days.

The Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities, or CWI, is administered by DNREC and was proposed by Gov. Carney to protect public health and minimize environmental hazards and risk for all Delawareans.

“Through the Governor’s Clean Water Initiative, state agencies – particularly DHSS Division of Public Health and DNREC – are in a stronger position to protect, uplift and enhance the standing of Delawareans who until now might have been thwarted by circumstances, costs or lack of community governance structure hampering their rights to safe drinking water and proper wastewater treatment,” DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin said.

The DWSRF, within DHSS, provides support to Delaware drinking water systems through the Disadvantaged Community Subsidy program. This program ensures that DWSRF loans can be forgiven for projects benefitting the most vulnerable communities. Forgiveness of these loans ensures safe drinking water is provided without creating substantial burden on household budgets.

“We are grateful to the Governor, DNREC, the Division of Public Health and all of the entities involved in this clean water initiative benefiting this Lewes community,” DHSS Secretary Molly Magarik said. “Nothing is more inherently important to someone’s health than having clean water to drink and a safe sewer system.”

This CWI pilot project follows DNREC’s citation of the community’s owner twice in the last year with DNREC notices of violations for unsanitary conditions from its failing septic system that posed a threat to residents’ public health and safety.

Among other benefits to the community stemming from this pilot project, under the terms of the transaction, for a period of 20 years, the community owner (not the residents) will bear all of the community’s water and sewer utility costs and current community residents will be insulated from rent increases by the community owner that are based on the owner’s expenses for the community’s utility charges and the arising from installation of the water and sewer.

Construction on the sewer connection project is expected to begin in the first half of 2022, after the project is bid by the Lewes BPW. The CWI will facilitate the installation of approximately 5,000 feet of sewer main (connected into the existing Lewes sewer collection system on Donovan Road), 23 manholes, and approximately 1,500 feet of house sewer services with cleanouts, sewer main and service trench restoration, for 88 existing mobile home units within the Donovan Smith community. Installation of the Lewes BPW public sewer system will eliminate the failing onsite community systems and provide a safer, more sustainable sewage collection and treatment alternative.

The DWSRF-supported component of the pilot project calls for replacing an aging water system sited under the community’s mobile homes and through narrow spaces between the homes. Lewes BPW will install nearly 1,000 feet of 12-inch main to connect to an existing main, and 4,500 feet of internal main within the park, along with meters, service lines, valves, and fire hydrants inside the Donovan Smith community. All this – under the management of DHSS’ Division of Public Health, Health Systems Protection section – reduces potential for system contamination, provides reliable water service to the community and provides fire protection capability to the community.

More information about the Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities can be found at de.gov/cwi. More information on the Disadvantaged Community Subsidy and the DWSRF is available on the DHSS website.

Media contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov or Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

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Plan to Connect Donovan Smith Manufactured Home Community Gets Important Conditional Approval

Donovan Smith was required to cordon off areas where wastewater surfacing has occurred and pump the sewage to mitigate further wastewater surfacing and groundwater pollution within the manufactured home community.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control announced today plans to connect the Donovan Smith Manufactured Home Community to the Lewes Board of Public Works sewer system are proceeding following issuance of a conditional letter of approval of the state-funded loan mechanism that will provide financing for the connection.

The community owner’s lender had to sign off on the financing arrangement in order for the state-funded loan for the connection to proceed, and a conditional approval has been secured by the owner, DNREC confirmed Monday, following months of negotiation.

Donovan Smith was chosen as a pilot project for Delaware’s Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities – with DNREC, the Delaware Department of Health and Social Services, and the Delaware State Housing Authority partnering at Governor John Carney’s behest to develop a priority list for underserved communities in the state that have longtime water and wastewater issues. The combination of DNREC enforcement of wastewater regulations and financial help for Donovan Smith aims to end water pollution at the site by moving the community from septic systems to the Lewes central sewer system. The Clean Water Initiative will use the approach being piloted with Donovan Smith to institute water and wastewater improvements in other similar communities.

“There are a number of manufactured home communities in our state — especially downstate — with longtime septic issues where putting the cost of a sewer connection on the residents would be a tremendous financial burden. Finding a way to mandate the sewer connection without burdening the residents or possibly bankrupting the park — and leaving the residents without anywhere to live — is the tightrope we must walk, and which the state financing supported by Gov. Carney is making possible,” DNREC Secretary Shawn M. Garvin said. “We are working to make a difference in the lives of these residents and in the environment, one step at a time.”

DNREC also announced it has issued a second Notice of Violation to Donovan Smith Mobile Home Park (MPH), LLC following an initial NOV issued in July. The second NOV was issued Sept. 13 after a compliance inspection and two environmental complaint investigations found multiple additional violations associated with several small onsite wastewater treatment and disposal systems within the community that were not previously addressed in the July NOV. One of the violations was a collapsing septic tank with wastewater overflowing and ponding on the grounds – with no barrier or fencing preventing human or pet contact with untreated wastewater, a significant public health hazard.

The first NOV documented the Donovan Smith MHP’s ongoing noncompliance and established deadlines for Donovan Smith to correct the problem and move forward on the sewer connection with financing from the Clean Water Initiative. According to the latest enforcement notice, although DNREC received updates from Donovan Smith concerning interim corrective actions taken, initiation of the required system pump-outs and submission of a corrective action plan did not occur within the timeframes established in the July NOV.

This second NOV cites Donovan Smith MHP for these delays, as well as additional violations that have occurred since July. And although Donovan Smith has since initiated system pump-outs and submitted a preliminary corrective action plan, this second NOV requires additional interim corrective actions. The DNREC enforcement measure also calls for amendments to the corrective action plan to address additional violations, monthly communication with the community residents on the status of corrective actions, and more rigorous inspection and reporting to mitigate additional environmental and public health concerns until the sewer connection is achieved.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Water manages and protects Delaware’s water resources. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov; Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov