English: Choctaw Nation Chief Gary Batton, during the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) celebration of the McCurtain Co. Rural Water District (RWD) #6 project completion celebration where customers, business owners, and governmental partners have come to Smithville, OK, on April 8, 2015. The $25 million water project that for the first time ever provides public water to residents in Oklahoma’s Ouachita Mountains.

The McCurtain RWD #6 project consisted of installing 253 miles of new water transmission and distribution lines and constructing five pump stations and three water storage tanks. The American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) Grant provided $17,953,950 million through the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) Rural Utilities Service (RUS) Water and Environmental Programs (WEP), and a $5,659,000 WEP Loan. The balance was funded by collaborating with several other funding sources such as the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, Oklahoma Department of Commerce (Community Development Block Grant), Oklahoma Water Resources Board (Rural Economic Action Plan Grant) and the McCurtain RWD #6 itself. Attending this event is U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development (RD) Oklahoma State Director Ryan McMullen who discussed USDA and Choctaw partnership with USDA StrikeForce initiatives in the Promise Zones. In an effort to lay a new foundation for economic growth, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009. The Recovery Act included measures to modernize our Nation's infrastructure, enhance energy independence, expand educational opportunities, preserve and improve affordable health care, provide tax relief, and protect those in greatest need. Of the $40.7 billion in program-level Recovery Act funding obligated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development obligated more than $21.2 billion in program-level funding to administer through seven USDA programs. For more information about this project, please see www.rd.usda.gov/newsroom/news-release/rural-development-p... For more information about USDA RD’s role in the ARRA, please see: www.rd.usda.gov/recovery/ For more information about USDA StrikeForce, please see: www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome?navid=STRIKE_FORCE For more information about USDA RD’s role in the Promise Zones, please see: www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/initiatives/promise-zones

USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.