Rural Community Assistance Partnership

Practical solutions for improving rural communities
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April 2012

Is your system putting the cart before the horse?

Posted Mon, 2012/04/16 - 12:20pm by RCAP

There is a menace threatening many of the nation's small water and wastewater systems today. It is a problem that has the potential to endanger the lives of thousands and damage millions of dollars in equipment.

This threat doesn't directly involve angry terrorists, furry creatures who are just moments from death and feel the urge to drown their sorrows in your well, or even the much maligned e coli bacteria.

Format: 
Magazine/newsletter (single article)
Topic: 
Finance
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager
Financial manager/accountant/bookkeeper

Communicating in emergencies

Posted Mon, 2012/04/16 - 12:15pm by RCAP

Originally published on Jan. 31, 2007

-- By the time you hear the thunder, it's too late to build the ark."Author Unknown

According to a report released just last week by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, only six of 75 U.S. metropolitan areas received the department's highest marks for their ability to communicate during a disaster, five years after the September 11, terrorist attacks.

Format: 
Magazine/newsletter (single article)
Topic: 
Security/emergency-response planning
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
Operator
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager
Related Resources: 
Security and Emergency Response Planning Toolbox for Small Water and Wastewater Systems

Trenchless Technologies: Can You Dig 'Em?

Posted Mon, 2012/04/16 - 12:12pm by RCAP

From the very beginning, Dig 'Em the frog was determined to make a name for himself. During his twenty-year, on-again/off-again, career as the mascot for Kellogg's popular Sugar Smacks cereal, the ball-cap wearing amphibian worked diligently to catapult his catch-phrase "Dig 'Em" into the world's vocabulary.

Format: 
Magazine/newsletter (single article)
Topic: 
Operations (technical)
Construction
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
Operator
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager
Project (construction) manager

Interactive Sampling Guide for Drinking Water System Operators

Posted Mon, 2012/04/16 - 12:06pm by RCAP

EPA has developed an interactive CD-ROM and website as part of its ongoing public drinking water sustainable-infrastructure efforts.  The purpose of this guide is to help drinking water system owners and operators better understand the general procedures involved in collecting Safe Drinking Water Act compliance samples.  Additional sample shipping suggestions, sample tips, and sample requirements are made available within the body of this interactive guide.

Sampling Guide

Format: 
Software tool
Topic: 
Operations (technical)
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Operator
Plant manager

The Basics of Financial Management for Small-community Utilities: A webcast on financial management

Posted Mon, 2012/04/16 - 11:08am by RCAP

A recorded webcast that is a companion to RCAP’s The Basics of Financial Management for Small-community Utilities. The printed guide, the main piece in the family of resources on financial management, is a how-to guide that provides an overview of financial management for small-community drinking water or wastewater utilities, from developing and balancing an expense budget to estimating and collecting revenue. This primer is ideal for a board member of a utility who needs to understand the financial aspects of a utility's operations.

Format: 
Training module
Topic: 
Finance
Source: 
RCAP
Audience: 
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Related Resources: 
The Basics of Financial Management for Small-Community Utilities
The Basics of Financial Management for Small-community Utilities: A self-guided training to finances

Community-Based Water-Resiliency electronic tool

Posted Fri, 2012/04/13 - 5:13pm by RCAP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has produced the Community-Based Water Resiliency (CBWR) Tool. The CBWR Tool includes more than 400 tools and resources to enhance your community's resiliency to water service disruptions. A main component of the tool is the self assessment, which provides users with questions tailored to their stakeholder group and culminates in a self-assessment summary report. The report details the strengths and weaknesses of the users' community's resiliency and recommends tools and resources that can be used to enhance resiliency.

Format: 
Software tool
Topic: 
Security/emergency-response planning
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Operator
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)
Plant manager

EPA releases newly updated Community-Based Water-Resiliency electronic tool

Posted Fri, 2012/04/13 - 5:10pm by RCAP

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released version 1.1 of the Community-Based Water Resiliency (CBWR) Tool. This updated version of the CBWR Tool includes more than 400 tools and resources to enhance your community's resiliency to water service disruptions. A main component of the tool is the self assessment, which provides users with questions tailored to their stakeholder group and culminates in a self-assessment summary report.

The eBulletin is now called A Drop of Knowledge

Posted Fri, 2012/04/13 - 4:13pm by RCAP

A Drop of Knowledge (formerly the eBulletin ) is one of RCAP’s main communications resources. It is an electronic newsletter delivered via email that provides tools focusing on issues facing water and wastewater systems and small, rural communities.

The newsletter's name reflects its purpose, to provide:

Washington Post: 5 myths about water

Posted Thu, 2012/04/12 - 8:32pm by RCAP

In the April 8 Washington Post column on "5 Myths," the paper addresses water:

Simple ways to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services

Posted Thu, 2012/04/12 - 3:51pm by RCAP

WaterSense, a partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, seeks to protect the future of our nation's water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services.

WaterSense brings together a variety of stakeholders to:

Format: 
Website (with more resources)
Topic: 
Customer relations/service
Conservation
Source: 
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Audience: 
Board/council member
Mayor/town manager/elected official (local)