BOISE - Officials with the federal Department of Agriculture's rural development program plan to award nearly $3.5 million in grants in northern Idaho.

The delegation will be in the small town of Ferdinand on Tuesday to deliver a $213,053 grant. The money will go toward a new computer center as part of a plan to bring high-speed Internet to the region.

The group also plans to award a $726,000 grant to officials in Nezperce to improve the city's water system.

The largest of the grants -- $2.5 million -- will go to the Riverside Independent Water and Sewer District in Orofino to carry out improvements on a water distribution system.