In the News

The Osceola News Gazette: Toho Water receives EPA loan to expand treatment facilities

This article was written by Ken Jackson and published by The Osceola News Gazette on August 13, 2024

Toho Water Authority has been named the recipient of a $188.3 low-interest Environmental Protection Agency loan, which it will use to modernize water infrastructure in Polk and Osceola counties to help ensure a water supply it calls “resilient” to over 450,000 utility residents.

At a gathering Tuesday, Congressman Darren Soto (D-Kissimmee) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Deputy Assistant Administrator for Water Mae Wu made the presentation to Toho Water officials.

The EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act program will support Toho Water Authority’s One Water Program, which will ensure clean, safe drinking water in a region where continued growth increases the demand for clean water.

With this WIFIA loan, Toho Water officials say they plan to expand multiple water treatment facilities and install a series of water main and pump stations. This will reduce reliance on fresh groundwater by increasing the use of potable and non-potable water supplies. 

Toho Water previously received a $40 million WIFIA grant to help finance the Kissimmee Accelerated Gravity and Sewer Assessment and Rehabilitation Project, which is nearing completion, Toho Water Authority CEO/Executive Director Todd Swingle said.

“As Toho nears completion of our $80 million dollar plus Accelerated Gravity Sewer Replacement Program made possible by our first WIFIA loan, we now embark on our Toho One Water Initiative and say thank you,” Swingle said. “Thank you to Congress for creating and continuing to fund WIFIA, providing an essential financing tool for the water sector. Thank you to our Florida delegation including Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott and Congressman Darren Soto for your service in Washington and your continued support of Toho. Thank you to the WIFIA staff for your partnership throughout the review and closing process.”

"This critical federal funding will protect clean water, preserve our environment and ensure sufficient water supply for our growing community,” Rep. Soto said. “We are grateful to the EPA for their partnership and support in securing this impactful investment in Central Florida's water future."

“This loan will fund several key upgrades and expansions to the Tohopekaliga water infrastructure, including expanding multiple water treatment facilities and installing a series of water main and pump stations, which will reduce the communities’ reliance on the Upper Floridian aquifer’s supplies and improving the drinking water distribution system for this growing population,” said Deputy Administrator EPA César Zapata. “These improvements are not only about replacing outdated systems but also about implementing cutting-edge technologies that will enhance water quality, increase system resilience, and reduce operational costs. This means cleaner, more reliable water for residents of Polk and Osceola Counties and a stronger, more sustainable infrastructure for the future.”

Orlando Business Journal: Lynx scores millions in federal transportation dollars. Here's what it will be used for.

This article was written by Ryan Lynch and published by Orlando Business Journal​​​​​​​ on July 23, 2024

Lynx just got a major grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The Orlando-based Central Florida Regional Transportation Authority, which does business as Lynx, received $27.61 million from the U.S. Federal Transit Administration’s Low or No Emission Grant Program.

With the funds that U.S. Rep. Darren Soto (D-Florida) helped secure, the bus and paratransit service provider will add 30 compressed natural gas (CNG) buses to its fleet — part of the move of its full fleet to a mix of low- and zero-emission vehicles by 2028.

The grant is part of $1.5 billion being awarded related to 2021's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

“117 communities, including Orlando, received the good news that their transit buses are being modernized and their commutes improved through President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a press release. “The Biden-Harris Administration is helping agencies across 47 states replace old buses running on dirty, expensive fuels by delivering modern and zero-emission buses, manufactured by American workers, that will connect more people to where they need to go.”

Lynx spokesman Matt Friedman told Orlando Business Journal the funding will allow the bus system to immediately procure new vehicles.

Its fleet has more than 311 vehicles and the new purchases will bring it down to only 20 diesel and hybrid vehicles. Besides the CNG buses, it also has 14 electric buses in its fleet, several of which are used on the Lymmo downtown circulator routes.

Lynx primarily services more than 2,500 square miles in Orange, Seminole and Osceola counties, with more than 18.42 million passenger trips in fiscal year 2023.

This article was written by Molly Duerig and published by Central Florida Public Media on June 24, 2024

Congressman Darren Soto is presenting the City of Orlando with a federal funding award of nearly $960,000 to reduce flood risk in East Orlando by updating stormwater infrastructure along Curry Ford Road in East Orlando.

After Hurricane Ian in 2022, areas near Curry Ford and Ventura flooded significantly; in some cases, parking lots were flooded 2-3 feet, Soto said.

“We saw that flooding firsthand, and we wanted to do something about it,” Soto said. “We worked on some FEMA relief, but overall, it's clear we needed a longer-term solution.”

According to a project summary, the stormwater drainage systems along Curry Ford were developed back in the 1980s and 90s, based on design requirements that are now outdated. Today, that stormwater infrastructure is aging and undersized, especially given Central Florida’s larger population. This project will improve the infrastructure and help reduce flooding.

“Water infrastructure not only needs to be upgraded, but constantly maintained,” Soto said. “We’ve got a lot of water in Central Florida, particularly surface water, and hurricanes, as they're getting more intense, are stressing these systems out.”

Last year was a new record for the most costly climate and weather disasters in a calendar year, with 28 such disasters in the U.S. each costing at least a billion dollars, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The city previously requested the nearly $960,000 in Community Project funds from the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations. After Soto presents the check to Orlando City Council Monday afternoon, paperwork for the allocation will be finalized over the next several months, he said.

This op-ed was published in the Orlando Sentinel on January 6, 2024.