Southern Illinois Recieves Grant For Water Pipeline

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State officials are putting up nearly $2 million  in federal disaster money to relocate a water line running under Rend Lake in southern Illinois.

The federal grant is administered by the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and will be used to make the water main easier to fix after a disaster like an earthquake. The 18-inch pipe delivers drinking water to 39,000 people in Jefferson County including residents in Mount Vernon, Waltonville and Woodlawn. The grant will pay three-quarters of the cost of moving the line so that it bypasses the lake.