KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Aging infrastructure can be a big problem. That’s why Kansas City, Kansas, residents will soon see crews working to replace water mains.

State and KCK leaders said it’s a critical project that’s been a long time coming.

At the Kansas City Board of Public Utilities on Monday, U.S. Senator Jerry Moran announced a plan to replace about 15 miles of water mains throughout the city.

Moran, a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, helped secure a $10 million federal grant for the BPU.

Many water mains in Kansas City, Kansas, are outdated, with some originally installed in the 1800s. The older mains primarily service older, low-income neighborhoods near Interstate 635.

Moran said there wouldn’t be enough money to cover the cost of all the work that needs to be done if it weren’t for the grant.

“In my view, when this opportunity presented itself, I said yes,” Moran said Monday. “The alternative, money that’s being spent here today, if it’s not being spent here today, it’s being spent somewhere else in the country.

“Kansas taxpayers and citizens ought to have the opportunity to access their own dollars that go off to Washington, D.C. We’d like to see more of them return every opportunity.”

BPU leaders have not announced when the work will start.