Delta Regional Authority invests nearly $17 Million for local infrastructure projects across eight-state region

Feb. 17, 2025 – The Delta Regional Authority announced today that four Arkansas communities will soon receive a combined investment of over $6.7 million to upgrade their local water systems.

Based in Clarksdale, Miss., the federal-state agency announced today (Tuesday, Feb. 17) that Forrest City, Hampton, Felsenthal, and Walnut Ridge were among the Delta communities across eight states to receive nearly $17 million in federal funding from the Community Infrastructure Fund (CIF).

With these new federal awards, DRA Co-Chairman Corey Wiggins said Arkansas is at the forefront of the multistate agency’s $46 million investment for fiscal year 2025, supporting 35 projects across the eight-state region and driving economic growth in the Delta.

“As a result of this investment, 18,700 families will have improved access to infrastructure, helping to enhance their quality of life and increase economic opportunities in their communities,” said Wiggins.

The four Arkansas projects will support local water, sewer, and wastewater initiatives, a primary focus of Gov. Sarah Sanders since taking office in early 2003. During her three-year tenure, Sanders has prioritized improving Arkansas’s water infrastructure statewide, with more than $2.7 billion in state and federal funds invested in water projects across all 75 counties.

In 2023, Gov. Sanders signed Executive Order 23-27, launching a comprehensive review and update of the Arkansas Water Plan, which guides the state’s water resource management, supply, demand, and quality. The first phase was completed by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in August 2024. The second phase of the update is currently underway and scheduled for completion in summer 2026.

“Everywhere you look, Arkansas’ communities are expanding and demanding more from our infrastructure,” Sanders said in November after announcing nearly $154 million in newly funded water projects across the state.

“That’s why my administration is committed to providing funding for these latest projects, ensuring Arkansas’ water systems can keep up with demand so every Arkansan has clean water to drink and wastewater systems that work,” said Sanders.

Regionally, DRA serves 255 counties and parishes across eight states in the Mississippi River Delta and Alabama Black Belt regions, including Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. Under federal law, at least 75% of DRA funds must be invested in economically distressed counties, parishes, and isolated areas of hardship within the region.

The Community Infrastructure Fund is one of DRA’s core investment vehicles. The program’s 2025 funding window opened on Jan. 6 and closes at the end of August, offering between $500,000 and $2 million to mostly rural communities across the South.

According to Wiggins, the CIF works alongside the DRA’s States’ Economic Development Assistance Program (SEDAP)  to strengthen communities across the Delta region by funding flood control projects, public infrastructure developments such as water, sewer,  and broadband, and transportation improvements.

For example, in December, the DRA, in partnership with the state of Arkansas, invested over $5.5 million in 12 projects across the state’s Delta region through SEDAP. For this cycle, DRA funding was awarded to recipients in Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, and Mississippi. These 11 projects are expected to create or preserve more than 1,700 jobs and support over 18,000 families in the Delta region, said Wiggins.

The Arkansas projects list includes:

• Forrest City received over $1.8 million for a storm sewer project that will fix the city’s drainage problems and improve access to important community and emergency resources during weather events.

• Walnut Ridge received $2 million to continue a multi-stage rehabilitation project that will improve the wastewater system’s efficiency and adequacy, helping the city attract and compete for new businesses.

• Town of Felsenthal received over $1.4 million for a water infrastructure upgrade that will deliver safe, reliable drinking water; cut water loss; and boost community resilience.

• Hampton received over $1.5 million for a wastewater rehabilitation project that will upgrade the community’s wastewater system to a properly functioning standard.