Ammon wins drinking water grant

UPDATE: 4:46 p.m. Idaho Department of Environmental Quality officials said the Ammon grant award should be safe from Environmental Protection Agency holdbacks ordered by President Trump today because it was included in previous year budgets. However, the future funding for other Idaho environmental projects is unsure. ORIGINAL STORY: The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality announced the city of Ammon was awarded a drinking water planning grant. The $42,407 grant will be used to prepare a planning study and environmental information document. The project will evaluate the water system’s deficiencies and identify necessary improvements. The total cost of the project is $84,815. The remaining $42,408 will be funded by the city of Ammon. It is not clear if President Donald Trump’s “temporary suspension” of Environmental Protection Agency activities Tuesday would affect that grant or any others in the state. Many of the Department of Environmental Quality’s drinking water programs are directly or indirectly financed by EPA.