Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities
front-page-banner-img

January 2012

EPA's Tools and Key Resources for Sustainable Communities

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 4:21pm by RCAP

A section of the EPA website with tools and key resources for sustainable communities

Tools offered on the topics of:

Format: 
Website (with more resources)
Topic: 
Energy use
Planning
Conservation
Climate change
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Operator
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager

Planning for an Emergency Drinking Water Supply

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 4:16pm by RCAP

Provision of an emergency water supply involves collaboration and partnership between various levels of government. Although the document is not guidance as to how to comply with any particular law, it is a helpful review of the roles and responsibilities among various levels of government regarding emergency water supplies. Relevant federal legislative language pertaining to each level (federal, state, and local) is cited. The discussion highlights the importance Congress has placed on emergency water supply planning.

40 pages

Format: 
Report
Topic: 
Security/emergency-response planning
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Board/council member
Plant manager
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
State/federal decision-maker

Assessing the Environmental and Capacity Development Outcomes of Small Water System Board and Management Training

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 3:52pm by RCAP

Assessing the Environmental and Capacity Development Outcomes of Small Water System Board and Management Training
By Stephen Gasteyer and Keith Taylor, Department of Sociology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Mich.

Format: 
Policy paper/study/analysis
Source: 
Other nonprofit/organization
Audience: 
State/federal decision-maker

Tapping Untapped Potential: The Role of Technical Assistance Providers in Building Financing, Implementation, and Management Capacity for Water Services

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 3:51pm by RCAP

Tapping Untapped Potential: The Role of Technical Assistance Providers in Building Financing, Implementation, and Management Capacity for Water Services (PDF; 444 KB)
A paper published in 2004 by Stephen Gasteyer, Director of Water and Community Programs for RCAP

 

Format: 
Policy paper/study/analysis
Topic: 
Public policy
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
State/federal decision-maker

U.S. Infrastructure Finance Needs for Water and Wastewater

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 3:49pm by RCAP
A paper published by Mark Pearson of Community Resource Group, Southern RCAP
 
Format: 
Policy paper/study/analysis
Topic: 
Infrastructure
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
State/federal decision-maker

Affordability and Capacity Issues of Small Water and Wastewater Systems: A Case for Regionalization of Small Systems

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 3:48pm by RCAP
 
Format: 
Policy paper/study/analysis
Topic: 
Regional cooperation
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
Board/council member
Plant manager
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
State/federal decision-maker

Community Facilities Technical Assistance: Helping Rural Leaders Provide Basic Community Services in Small-town America

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 3:44pm by RCAP
Community Facilities Technical Assistance: Helping Rural Leaders Provide Basic Community Services in Small-town America
A policy paper written by Ari Neumann, Director of Policy Development and Applied Research in the RCAP national office
 
Format: 
Policy paper/study/analysis
Topic: 
Infrastructure
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
State/federal decision-maker

RCAP Resources Library

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 12:52pm by RCAP

The online RCAP Resources Library has a variety of resources that are useful to small, rural drinking water and wastewater systems.

The library includes resources produced by:

  • RCAP
  • EPA, USDA and other government agencies that relate to small, rural water systems
  • other organizations and entites that  relate to small, rural water systems
  • others

The library includes resources in these formats:

Source water and wellhead protection resources from the SMART About Water program

Posted Fri, 2012/01/06 - 11:41am by RCAP
The SMART About Water program (Strategic Management and Available Resources and Technology) produced materials to assist communities in their efforts to protect drinking water quality, with a focus on source water and wellhead protection (namely untreated wastewater from failing septic and sewer systems).
 
Format: 
Website (with more resources)
Topic: 
Source water
Source: 
RCAP
National Environmental Services Center
Audience: 
Operator
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager

Check Up Program for Small Systems (CUPSS)

Posted Thu, 2012/01/05 - 1:34pm by RCAP

CUPSS is a free, easy-to-use, asset-management tool for small drinking water and wastewater utilities. CUPSS provides a simple, comprehensive approach based on EPA's highly successful Simple Tools for Effective Performance (STEP) Guide series. Use CUPSS to help you develop:

Format: 
Software tool
Topic: 
Finance
Rates
Operations (technical)
Management
Construction
Infrastructure
Planning
Board/council
Asset management
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Operator
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager
Financial manager/accountant/bookkeeper
Related Resources: 
Asset Management: A Handbook for Small Water Systems
A Guide to Asset Management for Small Water Systems
Taking Stock of Your Water System: A Simple Asset Inventory for Very Small Drinking Water Systems
Asset Life Expectancy Guide
Managing Your Existing Assets