Four Finger Lakes communities will receive more than $10.6 million in state funding to identify and replace lead service lines as part of a new round of drinking water infrastructure grants announced Thursday.
The awards include $4.91 million for Ithaca, $3.74 million for Geneva, $1.09 million for Seneca Falls and $869,300 for Canandaigua, according to a $130 million statewide funding announcement from Gov. Kathy Hochul.
The money is being distributed through New York’s Lead Infrastructure Forgiveness and Transformation, or LIFT, program, which is designed to help communities complete lead service line inventory and replacement projects without shifting the full cost onto local ratepayers.
Lead service lines are the pipes connecting homes and other properties to public water mains. The state said they are typically the most significant source of lead in drinking water where lead plumbing is present, particularly in older communities and homes built before 1986.
Finger Lakes communities receive more than $10 million
The four local awards total $10,605,751.
Ithaca received the largest Finger Lakes award at $4.91 million, followed by Geneva at $3,737,741. Seneca Falls was awarded $1,088,710, while Canandaigua will receive $869,300.
The grants are intended to complement federal funding provided through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Federal rules require a portion of funding for lead service line projects to be structured as loans, which can leave municipalities with debt even when much of a project is federally supported.
Under the LIFT program, New York uses state grants to repay those loan portions after projects are completed, effectively converting the financing into full grant funding for qualifying communities.
State officials said the approach is intended to prevent communities from having to finance lead pipe replacement through higher local water rates or additional municipal debt.
The funding prioritizes communities where median household income is below 80% of the regionally adjusted statewide median or where the local poverty rate exceeds the statewide rate.
State has committed hundreds of millions to lead pipe work
New York has awarded more than $600 million in federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funding for lead service line inventory and replacement projects since 2022, including $310 million in grants and $295 million in loans.
With the latest awards, the state said it has also committed more than $290 million through the LIFT program for loan forgiveness since the initiative was launched in 2024.
The funding is part of a broader state effort to replace aging water infrastructure and remove lead service lines from public drinking water systems.
New York has committed $10.6 billion to clean water infrastructure projects since 2021, according to the governor’s office, while the state’s current budget includes a $3.75 billion water infrastructure investment plan.
For Geneva, Canandaigua, Ithaca and Seneca Falls, the latest awards will specifically target one of the most persistent problems facing older municipal water systems: identifying where lead service lines remain and replacing them before they pose a greater public health risk.
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