Goshen Awarded $4.1 Million To Update Its Troubled Water System
Jul 9, 2021, 7:56 PM | Updated: Jul 5, 2023, 10:59 am
GOSHEN, Utah — This week, the United States Department of Agriculture announced that Goshen, a town near Santaquin, would be getting $4.1 million to update their water system.
Mayor Steven Staheli said $3 million is a loan, but the town also secured a $1.1 million grant.
The money will be used to install a new 500,000 gallon water storage tank, electronic measuring systems and replace the majority of water distribution lines in town.
The mayor says construction is set to start next spring.
Goshen has a history of water issues, but this money isn’t related to a contamination problem KSL TV first reported on in 2015 when five homes just outside the town limits were placed on a boil order.
“They gave us bottled water, but stopped doing that,” Grant Parr said.
Parr lives in one of the affected homes and was boiling water for about two years.
Mayor Staheli said fixing the contamination issue cost the town about $200,000 but the issue was resolved in 2018.
Parr was happy to find out about the new upgrade the town’s water system. He also said the system had been fixed years ago, but at one point, it was terrible.
“They cut the pipes open and found dead animals in it,” he said.
Never did he think he wouldn’t have drinking water in Utah.
“I dealt with it before in the service,” said Parr.
Parr said he and his neighbors were never reimbursed during the years they were boiling water. He also said the communication about the situation was poor.
Parr hopes his experience can be a lesson other towns and city leaders take into consideration.
Editor’s note: this article has been updated to clarify that the 2015 water contamination issue was fixed in 2018 and that the new funding addresses other improvements.
