State infrastructure funding advances Wenatchee wastewater, Entiat reservoir

WENATCHEE — Two Chelan County utility projects aimed at supporting future housing and development are moving into the design phase after receiving a combined $1.3 million in state Public Works Board funding.

The City of Wenatchee was awarded a $1 million loan to complete design work for improvements to its wastewater treatment plant, a long-planned expansion intended to increase system capacity for new residential and commercial growth.

That work will be done under the purview of the city’s utilities division, led by Deputy Public Works Director Jessica Shaw, whose team is responsible for long-range planning and financing of Wenatchee’s water, sewer and stormwater systems. In recent years, Shaw has been a central figure in regional efforts to treat wastewater infrastructure as both a growth constraint and an economic asset, tying system capacity directly to housing and industrial development.

Pre-construction funding pays for engineering, environmental review and permitting — the steps required before a project can compete for construction dollars — and is often the most difficult phase for cities to finance with local rate revenue alone.

In Entiat, a $300,000 loan will fund the design of a new drinking water reservoir. City officials have previously identified water availability as a primary barrier to housing expansion, and the additional storage is expected to unlock future development.

The award continues a pattern of state support for Entiat’s utility system, where grants and low-interest loans have been used to move wastewater and drinking water projects through planning and construction stages that would otherwise be out of reach for the small city.

Across Washington, the Public Works Board approved $4.9 million for eight pre-construction projects. The program is designed to move local infrastructure to a shovel-ready stage more quickly, reducing long-term costs and positioning cities to compete for larger construction funding.

For communities in North Central Washington, those early design dollars often determine whether projects tied to housing, economic development and environmental compliance move forward on schedule or remain on hold.

In both cities, the funding represents an early but critical step in projects that will ultimately determine how much, and how fast, each community can grow.

Andrew Simpson: 509-433-7626 or andrew@ward.media