The agreement provides funding to national rural water association (nrwa) to implement a 12-month nationwide technical assistance (TA) program specifically designed for rural, small, and tribal…

The agreement provides funding to national rural water association (nrwa) to implement a 12-month nationwide technical assistance (TA) program specifically designed for rural, small, and tribal communities. Nrwa will assist 100 communities with planning, development, and acquisition of finance to support their decentralized wastewater system needs. The TA will be conducted to identify the systems to prioritize, necessary pre-development steps, identification of available financing options, steps to help systems get on the project priority list and state IUP, how to apply for cwsrf and IIJA finance/funding, and lastly, what can be accomplished in the short and long-term to achieve clean water act (CWA) compliance. Activities:the activities identified by nrwa include implementing a collaborative planning approach with tribal, state, and federal agencies to produce well-coordinated operating plans and clear communication protocols to provide decentralized wastewater support to rural, small and tribal communities. Nrwa will achieve this collaboration by deploying water quality action specialists (wqas) to help communities access funding. Through TA to 100 communities, nrwa will engage local steering committees in community-driven wastewater solutions projects that result in community wastewater assessment reports. Nrwa will implement 100 corresponding management activities for a minimum of 6,000 hours of onsite TA. The results of this project and efforts will be shared through 20 arcgis story maps, 20 case studies, one nrwa-hosted in-service training event, and one presentation at an industry conference. Subrecipient:nrwa will provide funding to nrwa state associates for training and onsite assistance. Outcomes:there are several anticipated deliverables from nrwa. First, there is an anticipated increase in the number of decentralized systems personnel and decision-makers with knowledge of available funding programs and skills to successfully apply for funding and be added to state project priority lists and intended use plans (iups) to receive clean water state revolving fund (cwsrf) or IIJA resources. Second, nrwa anticipates an increased number of rural, small, and tribal communities with decentralized wastewater systems will perform wastewater assessments, identify local priorities and solutions, and begin to implement solutions. And lastly, there is an anticipated increase in the number of rural, small, and tribal communities with decentralized wastewater systems who have increased knowledge and capacity in energy efficiency; security; water conservation, efficiency, and reuse; and climate change preparedness, and will use this knowledge to develop projects to improve their climate preparedness. The expected outcomes from nrwa include increasing the number of small, rural, and tribal communities that can: 1) access finance and funding for wastewater protection; 2) have enduring, sustainable, and climate-resilient clean water infrastructure solutions; and, 3) have local capacity to develop competitive proposals for funding and financing resources. The people of rural, small and tribal communities who utilize decentralized systems as a primary means of wastewater treatment are the intended beneficiaries of this funding.