The North Chautauqua County Water District broke ground Friday in the Town of Dunkirk on a $15 million regional project to provide reliable, clean water to participating communities at a lower cost, according to the County Executive's Office.

The process started in 2012 with a kickoff meeting where more than 100 local and state officials discussed what was needed to address the region's potable water needs. From the meeting, the County established North Chautauqua County Water District in December 2015.

The District will purchase water from the City of Dunkirk and sell and distribute it to the Village of Brocton, North County Industrial Water District, and Towns of Sheridan, Pomfret, Dunkirk and Portland.

It will also construct 12 miles of continuous water main from the Village of Silver Creek to the western town line of Portland. Two new water storage tanks and a pump station that will supply water to the Village of Brocton are also part of the project. This will replace the Brocton water treatment plant, which will go offline. The work is expected to be completed in summer 2018.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has provided more than $2 million in New York State grant funding from Empire State Development for the project. The New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation has also made available low interest loans and grants.

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