Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities
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April 2011

Obama administration affirms comprehensive commitment to clean water

Posted Fri, 2011/04/29 - 1:49pm by RCAP

WASHINGTON – Recognizing the importance of clean water and healthy watersheds to our economy, environment and communities, the Obama administration released a national clean water framework April 27 that showcases its comprehensive commitment to protecting the health of America’s waters.

Funding gives Colonia residents new hope for wastewater system

Posted Thu, 2011/04/28 - 1:07pm by Travis Mitchell

An outpouring of state and federal funding and assistance from the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) has one small Arizona community on the road to realizing its goal of improving a failing sewer system.

New York Times: Resistance to gas drilling rises on unlikely soil

Posted Thu, 2011/04/28 - 10:10am by RCAP

Originally published on April 23, 2011 (original posting)

By KATE GALBRAITH

FORT WORTH — Texans pride themselves on being the heart of the nation’s oil and gas business. But even here, public concern about natural gas drilling is growing.

On Wednesday, several dozen protesters marched through downtown Fort Worth, waving signs and chanting anti-drilling slogans that reflected concern over air and water pollution.

EPA solicits public comment on permit to reduce stormwater discharges from construction sites

Posted Wed, 2011/04/20 - 10:42am by RCAP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing for public comment a draft permit that will help improve our nation’s waterways by regulating the discharge of stormwater from construction sites. Stormwater discharges during construction activities can contain sediment and pollutants that harm aquatic ecosystems, increase drinking water treatment costs and pollute waters that people use for fishing, swimming and other recreational activities.

Midwest Assistance Program recruiting field managers

Posted Tue, 2011/04/12 - 2:51pm by RCAP

Midwest Assistance Program (MAP), the Midwest RCAP, is recruiting for three Field Managers. The Field Manager (FM) provides oversight and supervision of the Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) in a designated area. The FM is also required to provide technical assistance and training to a select number of communities as a TAP. The Field Manager is a member of the MAP Management Team. The three positions will be located within and giving supervision to MAP staff in Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, and Nebraska.

The Rural Blog: Researchers say hydraulically fractured shale releases more greenhouse gases than coal

Posted Tue, 2011/04/12 - 2:43pm by RCAP

One researcher's conclusion that "natural gas pried from shale formations is dirtier than coal in the short term" and "comparable" in the long term will be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal, giving it more credence, Mike Soraghan reports for Greenwire.

The Wall Street Journal: Population leaves heartland behind

Posted Tue, 2011/04/12 - 2:31pm by RCAP

Census Shows Growth Fueled by Increasingly Diverse Metro Areas; in Kansas, a Small Town Tears Down Empty Homes

Online posting of this article
Originally printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A6, on April 11, 2011

By CONOR DOUGHERTY

Americans continued to abandon the nation's heartland over the past decade, moving into metropolitan areas that have grown less white and less segregated, the 2010 Census showed.

New water-security resources from EPA

Posted Tue, 2011/04/12 - 2:22pm by RCAP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recently released two new water-security products:

Webinar - Pandemic Influenza Planning and Preparedness: Lessons Learned for the Water Sector