Department of Natural Resources awards $10 million to the Metropolitan St&peri…

Sewer district will make collection system improvements

JEFFERSON CITY, MO, OCT. 24, 2025 - The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has awarded $10 million to the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District for upgrades to its sewer collection system. The funding will cover the entire cost of the project, which the sewer district expects to complete by October 2026.

This project is key to the sewer district's Public Inflow and Infiltration Reduction Program, which focuses on rehabilitating the existing collection system throughout the district's entire service area. The overall program is part of the sewer district's ongoing effort to reduce sewer overflow occurrences and volumes by reducing the amount of groundwater and stormwater flowing into the collection system.

Project funding consists of an $8.5 million low-interest loan and a $1.5 million grant through the department's Clean Water State Revolving Fund. The department estimates its assistance will save the district's ratepayers $1.5 million in principal and nearly $3.9 million in interest over the loan's 20-year term.

"Improving and Investing in Missouri's water infrastructure is a catalyst to economic growth and prosperity," said Kurt Schaefer, director of the Department of Natural Resources.

The department's Clean Water State Revolving Fund finances improvements to wastewater treatment facilities, sewer collection system rehabilitation and extensions, and combined sewer overflow corrections. The fund also finances security, efficiency and conservation measures. Communities that borrow from the fund benefit from the below-market interest rate and from a department project manager's assistance throughout the project.

The department is committed to assisting Missouri communities with water and wastewater infrastructure improvement projects. Through its Financial Assistance Center, the department provides funding opportunities for qualified communities with water quality, wastewater and drinking water infrastructure needs. This project will be funded wholly or in part with monies received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

For more information on wastewater and drinking water funding opportunities, visit dnr.mo.gov/water/what-were-doing/state-revolving-fund-srf.