When a lake homeowners association and a watershed district in Stearns County, Minn., suspected failing septic systems were affecting local water quality, they asked officials to confirm their suspicions. The county's Environmental Services Department conducted inspections and found the concerns justified; many of the suspected systems received failing marks.
That put the affected homeowners in an unexpected financial bind — until county officials began publicizing a state grant program that pays for upgrades to septic systems owned by qualifying low-income residents. In the last two fiscal years, $750,000 in grants paid for 80 system upgrades, says Mark Latterell, a senior environmental
