SARANAC LAKE — The village of Saranac Lake and town of Keene have received millions of dollars in state grants for drinking water projects upgrading the systems which bring tap water to their residents’ homes.

These grants were announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday.

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Keene

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The town of Keene received $3,813,090 for upgrades to the Keene Valley water district. The project includes drilling a new well, decommissioning the old wells and upgrading the pump facility, according to Keene supervisor Joe Pete Wilson Jr.

“It’s not very glamorous, but it’s very important,” Wilson said Friday.

When Wilson took office in 2017, he said only one of the town’s wells was functioning — and barely. They were able to launch an emergency project to build a replacement well, which was completed in 2019. They have made small repairs since then but ran out of money on hand. Over the last five years, they have applied for a number of grants and have applied for a WIIA grant two times before, unsuccessfully.

The next step will be to work on a contract with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which will help determine the timeline of the project. In the meantime, Wilson is grateful for a grant that will help meet a basic need for the community.

“This was really the governor responding to the need in our small, rural towns,” Wilson said. “And I appreciate that a lot.”

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Saranac Lake

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Saranac Lake got $5 million for “water source and distribution evaluations.” Village Manager Bachana Tsiklauri said this money is likely for the village to switch its primary water source back to surface water and turn the wells it dug in 2012 into backup, redundant water supplies.

Tsiklauri said the village is currently in the preliminary study phase of this project and about to move into the design phase.

This summer, the village started looking into a secondary water source, as one of its wells is having problems with high iron concentration in the water it produces.

One of the two wells the village dug near the wastewater treatment plant in 2012 has been out of service for several years due to it having high iron content.

The other well is currently producing plenty of water for the village, but they need two sources for emergencies.

Tsiklauri said the well without the iron problem may become the secondary water source, with a new groundwater source being the primary supplier.

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North Country focus

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These grants come as part of $435 million the state awarded to 102 projects across the state, which are estimated at costing $1 billion total.

The grants are from the state’s Water Infrastructure Improvement and the Intermunicipal grant programs and are awarded by the state Environmental Facilities Corporation.

In total, the North Country is getting more than $51 million from these grants, according to state Assemblyman Billy Jones’ office.

Other North Country awardees include Champlain, Chateaugay, Peru, Plattsburgh and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe.

“My colleagues and I in the state legislature pushed to expand this program along with the governor and it is great to see the results right here in the North Country considering that my district received the most funding from this program,” Jones, D-Chateaugay Lake, said in a statement.

Out of all the 150 Assembly districts in the state, Jones’ 115th is getting the most out of this round of grants.

“This is great news for our region,” Jones said. “Every New Yorker has the constitutional right to clean water and this funding will help local municipalities ensure that they continue to provide clean water to their residents.”

Jones also said he is supporting legislation to fund work on aging water infrastructure based on the total length of pipes in local districts — similar to how road infrastructure funding is disbursed.

“We all deserve access to clean water,” State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, said in a statement. “Funding infrastructure projects such as the ones announced today is a crucial way in making that a reality for all our communities.”