Regional Partnership Program: A Community-Led Approach

RCAP and the National Rural Water Association (NRWA) released an analysis examining how voluntary regional partnerships can help strengthen water and wastewater systems serving small and rural communities. Drawing on decades of on-the-ground technical assistance and system data, the analysis shows how community-led regional collaboration, supported by trusted technical assistance providers, can strengthen long-term sustainability while preserving local governance, community identity and public accountability.

Across the country, rural utilities face increasing pressure from aging infrastructure, workforce shortages, regulatory requirements and rising operational costs. The white paper, titled “Regional Partnership Program: A Community-Led Approach,” underscores that federal policy must support voluntary, community-driven regionalization by ensuring communities have access to planning resources, technical assistance and investment strategies that allow them to evaluate partnership opportunities while protecting local autonomy.

The analysis also identifies several areas where federal support could strengthen these efforts, including leveraging the Farm Bill for targeted assistance, increasing State Revolving Fund resources for regionalization and improving flexibility across federal funding programs.

Key findings of the white paper include the following:

• Rural utilities face significant infrastructure pressures. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that roughly $625 billion will be needed for drinking water infrastructure improvements in the coming decades, creating major challenges for small systems with limited financial and technical capacity.
• Regionalization is most effective when it is voluntary and community-led. This approach allows utilities to collaborate, share expertise and strengthen technical, managerial and financial capacity while preserving community identity.
• Regionalization includes multiple partnership models. Communities may pursue shared services, joint purchasing, contractual assistance, regional entities or voluntary consolidation depending on local needs.
• System size alone does not determine regulatory performance. National data shows that larger systems do not consistently outperform smaller systems in regulatory compliance.