The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it will provide $50,000 in financial and technical guidance to invest in Selma’s drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.

The announcement was made at the St. James Hotel by EPA senior policy advisor Ellen Gilinsky.

The assistance will be a part of EPA’s WaterCARE project, which will provide $500,000 for financial and technical assistance for 10 communities around the country.

Selma was host of the first official announcement. The WaterCARE program is designed to provide planning and financial assistance to small communities that are dealing with wastewater or storm water issues.

“Selma is a great place for us to work. There’s a great water treatment facility but the pipes that go in and out of the facility are aging,” Gilinsky said.

“They leak from all the rain you get here and that creates problems with run off into the river and also too much water coming into the sewage treatment plant.”

Selma owns and operates a 6 million gallon per day trickling filter wastewater treatment plant. EPA said the city needs to upgrade the plant because the trickling filter design it uses cannot effectively treat domestic sewage in the long term.

However, EPA also said the city of Selma has no current wastewater compliance concerns.

“The wastewater treatment plant itself operates very well and does not have any treatment issues,” Gilinsky said.

Communities that are part of the WaterCARE project will receive financial and technical guidance, support to develop a financial strategy and access to service providers and partners.

The cities selected had to have a population under 100,000 and had to need help economically.

“In order to get the assistance we need and to get the funding we need, we have to be at the table,” said Selma Mayor George Evans. “So by virtue we were one of the 10, we have a chance to explore some opportunities and request some funding if necessary to make our program even better.”

The assistance will start immediately and there is no timetable for the WaterCare assistance to end.

“We are going to make sure we work with Selma until the job is done,” Gilinsky said.