SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Calaveras County will receive a grant of approximately $2.8 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (Cal OES) for a water pretreatment facility located at the Jenny Lind Water Treatment Plant, near the town of Jenny Lind.

As a result of the Butte Wildfire, which began Sept. 9, 2015, a pretreatment facility is now needed to remove contaminants and sediments in the potable water supply. The pretreatment facility will filter out debris, turbidity and heavy metals discharged into the watershed that feeds the New Hogan Reservoir.

FEMA pays 75 percent of the eligible costs with a 25 percent match by the Calaveras County Water District. The total cost is projected to be $3.75 million.

The Jenny Lind Water Treatment Plant, which supplies water to 10,000 customers, receives water from the Calaveras River, just downstream of the New Hogan Reservoir. The reservoir will discharge these contaminants during heavy rains for up to 20 years.    

This grant comes from the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant program. These grants are available to state, tribal, local governments and some non-profit organizations. Sub-recipients propose projects to the Cal OES, which administers the overall program and selects projects that meet the goal of reducing or eliminating losses from future disasters.  

The fund is based on the amount of money FEMA spends on Individual Assistance and Public Assistance in a specific event. The total amount available is roughly equal to 20 percent of the funds disbursed by the two programs, based on California’s Enhanced Mitigation Plan, which exceeds federal minimum requirements.

For more information on California’s wildfire recovery, visit: caloes.ca.gov and fema.gov/disaster/4240 and follow us on Twitter @femaregion9 or @Cal_OES and at facebook.com/fema or facebook.com/CaliforniaOES.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from and mitigate all hazards.

Disaster recovery assistance is available without regard to race, color, religion, nationality, sex, age, disability, English proficiency or economic status. If you or someone you know has been discriminated against, call FEMA toll-free at 800-621-FEMA (3362). If you have a speech disability or hearing loss and use a TTY, call 800-462-7585 directly; if you use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362.