NORTHFORK, W.Va. (WVVA) – The Elkhorn Water Project has been in the works since 2015. With phase one including the installation of a 400 thousand gallon water storage tank. It also features a state of the art water treatment plant. The heavy lifting of phase two of this project includes laying nearly 70 thousand feet of water lines from Upland to Keystone.

“It addressed a lot of health issues also because we had the water in keystone that the plant was so deteriorated that they were not even able to chlorinate. So the residents were receiving water that wasn’t even treated. The health department issued an order on that, probably ten years ago. So having safe, reliable water now that’s treated, that’s sampled. That’s very important to the health and growth of the county,” said Mavis Brewster the General Manager for the McDowell County PSD.

The new water lines not only provide clean water to area residents, it also provides that same water to local businesses. To help them tap into tourism dollars that flow from the Hatfield and McCoy trail system.

“Starting on Thursday to Sunday, the population of the county almost doubles. We passed like forty four wheelers coming in, just a while ago. So it’s really important. Anything we can do to get some economy back in McDowell County, it’s really important,” said President of the McDowell County Commission, Cecil Patterson.

The county now seeks funding for phases three and four of the project. Senator Shelley Moore Capito explains how she’s helping McDowell county navigate through the available funding streams to fully complete the project.

“There’s a lot of funding out there. There’s the bipartisan infrastructure package that has a lot of water funding but there’s also rural development through the USDA, the state. So you kind of have to pick from different buckets of water to get these projects done and that’s what we’re doing again. We’re working with them already,” said Capito.

The McDowell PSD reports they’ve already started the application process for funding for the next two phases of the water projects.