Several communities in West Virginia’s southern coalfields celebrated the completion of a long awaited project to bring clean water to local communities last week. The Elkhorn Water Project began in 2015 and included a new 400,000 gallon water storage tank on Elkhorn Mountain. The recently completed phase two brings county water to 112 McDowell County Service District customers, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph, and water to more than two hundred others. Many water systems in the area were installed in the early 1900s by coal companies and have been failing for years. U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito said clean drinking water is among the basic infrastructure rights, which includes good roads and broadband access.