Grant for Columbia Falls High School helps with lead in the water

Columbia Falls High School has been awarded a $1.4 million grant from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to support a campus-wide drinking water infrastructure remediation project.

The grant will fund the design and replacement of drinking water system components, including piping and fixtures identified through the remediation effort. The project is intended to reduce or eliminate sources of lead contamination within the school’s drinking water system and significantly reduce or eliminate reliance on temporary filtration measures.

“The award provides dedicated state funding to address a significant facility need while reducing the amount of project cost that would otherwise require local funding. District officials anticipate using the grant to implement long-term improvements to the school’s drinking water infrastructure while coordinating the work with other planned facility upgrades,” noted Superintendent Cory Dziowgo in a release.

The grant award comes as the Columbia Falls School District prepares for the Columbia Falls High School Special Bond Election scheduled for Sept. 29. If the bond measure is approved by voters, district leadership plans to coordinate the water remediation project with the broader high school renovation effort. Ballots go out Sept. 9.

Integrating the projects would allow construction activities to be managed as part of a larger renovation program and provide additional flexibility within the overall project budget, Dziowgo noted.

If voters approve the bond request to remodel the high school, the grant will help offset some of the larger project costs, he said.