When Shane McIntosh turns on a faucet in the rural Nebraska city of Hastings, the water that pours out of it comes from the Ogallala Aquifer, which is one of the world’s largest. The water it supplies the city’s 25,000 residents is clean, clear and cold. 

As the captain of a new crew for the city’s utility division, McIntosh is committed to making sure that the water coming up from the aquifer won’t have to pass through lead service lines. To accomplish this, he’s relying on a trove of city service records dating back as far as 1887. He found that about 1,500 homes need their lines replaced.

“Sticky notes are amazing,” McIntosh said, describing how he goes about contacting residents when they’re not home. “Whatever works. A lot of times it’s easiest to go door to door and go all the way down the block.”

The whole project began with a city-initiated infrastructure replacement plan that went into effect in 2021, the same year the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was approved by Congress. Since its passage, the law has invested more than $568 billion to support more than 66,000 projects that create jobs and improve infrastructure — from roads and bridges to internet and water — across all 50 states.

The city of Hastings, known for being the birthplace of Kool-Aid, applied for and received $2 million in grant funding that had been allocated to the state of Nebraska from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. The funding came at the most opportune time, as the city embarked on replacing its water mains. 

To Brandan Lubken, who oversees water, wastewater and natural gas for Hastings, replacing the service lines at the same time was the most efficient way to tackle the project. 

“We knew potential funding was coming, but we didn’t know for sure,” Lubken said. “But, we went ahead and dove in, whole hog. And it’s worked out well.”

The city did encounter one hiccup, though. It couldn’t find a contractor to sign on to implement the project because of its magnitude. 

“So, we hired our own staff to do that,” Lubken said, referring to McIntosh’s recently expanded three-man team. 

That team spends its days meeting with homeowners, photographing the service lines leading to individual homes, creating plans to replace the lead services lines and then digging them up. Sometimes the work calls for drilling through basement walls, and sometimes the work involved leaves those basement walls in better shape than when the project started.

On the best days, McIntosh and his partner might be offered a fresh-baked cookie or plate of brownies from homeowners who are grateful the work is being completed at no cost to them.

On the best days, McIntosh and his partner might be offered a fresh-baked cookie or plate of brownies from homeowners who are grateful the work is being completed at no cost to them.

Lubken sees the project as preventative maintenance and a public health benefit. The federal funding made it easier to move forward with such a large project.

“Lead is not just your neighbor’s problem if they have it. It’s a community health issue. We know the hazards of ingesting lead, especially with children,” Lubken said, noting that the city’s water is safe to drink and currently meets federal standards. “My job isn’t to look at how well we’re doing now. It’s to look at the compounding problems for future stewards of these systems. If we didn’t do anything today, there could be a real problem in the future.”

The grant funding helped is an investment in Hastings today that will protect the health of Hastings residents in the future.

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, commonly called the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden in 2021. The law will invest billions of dollars in federal funding into rural infrastructure, disaster assistance, high-speed internet, and more.