In the tiny Washita County town of Canute, a long-running water headache might finally get some relief. State regulators signed off on a $999,999 loan for the town’s water system on June 18, 2026, and the whole thing is set to be forgiven. The money is earmarked to replace roughly 2,750 feet of aging water main that officials say has been a chronic source of leaks and low pressure. For a community of about 500 people in northwest Washita County, the upgrade could mean steadier taps without a big rate hike.
The Oklahoma Water Resources Board approved the loan through the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and designated it as 100% principal forgiveness. According to the board’s announcement, the project will replace about 2,750 feet of outdated main, and Lori Johnson, chief of the OWRB’s Financial Assistance Division, calculated an estimated $1,581,300 in customer savings compared with traditional financing. This information was published by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
For a town that the Oklahoma Department of Transportation lists with a 2020 population of 494, a nearly million-dollar forgivable loan is a rare chance to tackle aging infrastructure without saddling residents with heavy debt. Local broadcaster KECO 96.5FM reported the award on July 10, 2026, and noted that OWRB and Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality executives thanked State Senator Brent Howard and State Representative Nick Archer for their support of the program.
How the DWSRF Works
The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund is a federal-state partnership that offers low-interest loans and, in some qualifying cases, principal forgiveness to help communities pay for drinking-water projects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains. In Oklahoma the DWSRF is co-administered by the OWRB and the Department of Environmental Quality, and the board reports that the program has delivered roughly $2.5 billion in drinking-water loans across the state. Program details are available from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board.
What Comes Next
Board approval clears the main financial hurdle, so the Canute Public Works Authority will now move toward final engineering, bidding, and construction steps before work can begin. Town leaders have not announced a public schedule for the project, but officials say the upgrades should improve pressure and reduce long-term maintenance costs once finished. For residents, officials say the biggest payoff will be fewer emergency repairs and a more reliable water supply, without a large new debt load hanging over the town.
