One of the biggest challenges for rural and small systems continues to be adequate funding. Many small water systems manage water resources, meet regulatory challenges and upgrade their aging infrastructure with extremely limited resources. It is no secret that, historically, these types of systems have relied heavily on state and federal grants to complete system maintenance and upgrades.
Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that it will provide up to $15 million in funding to small drinking and wastewater systems, and private well owners.
The funding will help provide water system staff with much-needed training and tools to enhance system operations and management practices so they can better serve local communities.
Visit http://water.epa.gov/grants_funding/sdwa/smallsystemsrfa.cfm for more information on this topic. Applications are due April 9, 2012.