BY ROGER SMITH
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN
FRANKFORT — Martin County’s water and wastewater systems moved a major step closer to relief Tuesday. State Rep. Bobby McCool announced the Kentucky House passed House Joint Resolution 81, a measure that would release $52,502,260 in previously appropriated WWATERS funds, including $25,818,550 for eight Martin County water and sewer projects.
Martin County’s amount is roughly 48% of the statewide release of Water and Wastewater Assistance for Troubled or Economically Restrained Systems (WWATERS) program funding.
For Martin County, the House-passed measure includes:
- Route 292 booster station and waterline — $964,850
- Davella pump station and line — $6,471,900
- Martin County Water District debt service — $3,294,561
- Tank repair and painting — $769,210
- Blacklog gravity line replacement (Martin County Sewer District) — $1,687,380
- Countywide lift station replacement — $6,596,750
- Martin County Sewer District debt service — $2,169,799
- Inez wastewater system — $3,864,100
McCool emphasized that the funding is not final.
“Keep in mind this still has to go to the Senate for consideration of approval and signed by the Governor or override of his veto if that happens,” he said.
If approved by the Senate and enacted, the measure would mark the largest single round of state-backed utility support Martin County has ever seen, targeting both long-standing drinking water infrastructure issues and major sewer system needs.
McCool credited a broad group of local and state leaders, along with the Mountain Citizen staff, for helping move the measure forward.
“Let me give credit where credit is due,” he added. “I know I will miss some people because my mind is just one of great joy. Thanks to many people, such as Judge Lafferty, the water/wastewater board and employees, Sen. Phillip Wheeler, and, certainly, our Speaker and Leadership of the House. We still have a ways to go but it’s a very good first step for the wonderful people of Martin County. Give the Lord the praise.”
The House’s action comes as Martin County continues to pursue state and federal funding for critical upgrades, repairs and debt relief across its long-troubled water and wastewater systems.
Martin County has been at the center of water discussions for decades. It has been at the center of WWATERS discussions since the Legislature created the program in 2024. Those discussions intensified a year ago when points were omitted from the county’s competitive WWATERS application scores, leaving Martin County without funding despite severe infrastructure needs and heavy utility debt.
Since then, local and state officials, utility leaders and residents have argued Martin County’s aging systems, chronic failures and debt burdens warrant major state intervention.
Judge/Executive Lon Lafferty, who pledged during his 2022 campaign to make fixing Martin County’s water system his top priority, said the House vote marks a major step toward the roughly $60 million he has said is needed to address the county’s water crisis alone.
“If this passes, it will bring our total close to $50 million for both water and sewer,” Lafferty said.
Even with the House vote, Lafferty said, the county still has work ahead.
“We’re not there yet,” he said. “We still have to pass the Senate; the governor has to sign it. But this is a tremendous step forward for Martin County. We want to thank the legislators, Rep. Bobby McCool, Sen. Phillip Wheeler and the leadership of the House. We pray now that the Senate will take this up and look favorably on it.”
Lafferty said the funding is about more than infrastructure.
“Martin County is deserving of this money,” he said. “We need this money to move forward with economic and community development. More importantly, our children deserve clean, safe drinking water.”
He also framed the funding as long-overdue reinvestment in a county that has contributed heavily to the state for generations.
“With all the benefits that we have given to the rest of the state with our coal severance over the years, we feel like we are not asking for anything that we do not deserve.”
Lafferty stressed that the fight is not over.
“We are thankful that it has passed the House,” he said. “We are prayerful that it will pass the Senate. Our administration will continue pressing the issue daily, talking to everybody that we can.”
Lafferty credited the county’s residents, local press and utility leadership for helping keep pressure on Frankfort.
“I want to thank our local press and the people of this county who made the calls, who got online and made the comments about how we are deserving,” he said. “I want to thank our water board and Tim Thoma, our water board chairman, for the incredible work that they’ve done in supporting these projects and supporting us, going to Frankfort with us, making the calls and doing all the hard work to see that this is passed.”
If the measure becomes law, Lafferty said the county will ensure the money is spent exactly as intended.
“I can promise the people of the county this: When this money comes through, every single penny of it will go exactly where it is designated to go,” he said. “There will be the most vigilant oversight of any money that’s been spent anywhere.”
The judge renewed his pledge.
“We’re going to fix this water and sewage problem,” he said. “We look forward to, in years, being able to call this the Martin County miracle. We’re going to take this from the worst water system to the best. That’s our goal. This is a big step forward in that direction.”
For Lafferty, the House vote also carries a deeper message about a county that has too often felt overlooked.
“It’s a testament to us, who feel like we are forgotten people,” he said. “When we stand together, and we all fight the just cause together, it shows what can be done. It has taken every cook stirring, every call, every chip in the game and every influence anyone has had to keep this issue front and foremost in our legislators’ minds. We have had the worst system in the state. We want that corrected; we want clean, safe drinking water for our people here.”
Tuesday’s House vote does not guarantee the money will flow. But it places Martin County’s water and wastewater priorities in a far stronger position as the 2026 legislative session moves into its final stretch.
HJR 81
HJR 81 does not create a new funding source. Instead, it authorizes the release of money the General Assembly already appropriated in 2024 for WWATERS.
The resolution cites KRS 224A.320, the statute that created the WWATERS program under the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority. Under that law, eligible public water and wastewater systems apply for funding, the Kentucky Infrastructure Authority evaluates and scores those projects, and the authority must submit an annual report to the Legislative Research Commission by Dec. 1 for lawmakers to review. HJR 81 states that the required 2025 report was received and reviewed before the General Assembly approved the release of funds.
In practical terms, the resolution is the legislative step that turns WWATERS rankings into released dollars.
All projects funded under HJR 81
In addition to the eight Martin County projects, HJR 81 authorizes funding for nine projects elsewhere in Kentucky.
The full statewide breakdown is:
- $926,000 to the City of Evarts (Harlan County) for a water treatment plant
- $964,850 to the Martin County Water District for the Kentucky Route 292 booster station and water line
- $6,471,900 to the Martin County Water District for the Davella pump station and line replacement
- $3,294,561 to the Martin County Water District for debt service
- $769,210 to the Martin County Water District for tank repair and painting
- $514,800 to the City of Martin (Floyd County) for infrastructure rehabilitation
- $12,563,000 to the City of Liberty (Casey County) for Liberty Wastewater Treatment Plant improvements
- $3,106,890 to Southern Water and Sewer District (McDowell, Floyd County) for mains
- $900,500 to Southern Water and Sewer District (McDowell, Floyd County) for the tank replacement project
- $4,211,643 to Southern Water and Sewer District (McDowell, Floyd County) for repayment of debt
- $1,296,212 to the City of Elkhorn (Pike County) for repayment of debt
- $1,164,665 to the City of Smithland (Livingston County) for disinfection byproduct mitigation and system improvement
- $2,000,000 to the City of Oak Grove (Christian County) for the Kentucky Route 115 North and Carneal Lane waterline extension and tank
- $1,687,380 to the Martin County Sewer District for the Blacklog gravity line replacement
- $6,596,750 to the Martin County Sewer District for county-wide lift station replacement
- $2,169,799 to the Martin County Sewer District for debt service
- $3,864,100 to the Martin County Sewer District for Inez wastewater system improvements
Immediate effect
In Section 2 of the resolution, lawmakers declared an emergency, writing that it is critical for the selected applicants to receive their awards “as soon as possible” to help address problems affecting their public water or wastewater systems. Because of that emergency clause, the measure takes effect immediately upon passage and approval by the governor or otherwise becoming law.