Kentucky Rural Water Association, Inc.

Kentucky Rural Water Association, Inc., a Kentucky-based tax-exempt nonprofit, operates as a federal grant recipient and subrecipient focused on water infrastructure training, technical assistance, and community development in rural Appalachia. The organization does not hold federal contracts or IDVs; its federal footprint consists entirely of grant awards and sub-grant engagements, positioning it as a specialized service provider within the rural water systems ecosystem rather than a contract prime.

Kentucky Rural Water Association serves four distinct federal funding agencies. The Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service has funded eight awards, and the Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water has funded seven awards, together accounting for approximately 80% of the organization's federal grant activity. The Appalachian Regional Commission awarded three grants, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service Kentucky State Office issued one award. The organization functions predominantly as a subrecipient (79% of awards) rather than a direct grant recipient (21%), with fifteen of nineteen awards structured as sub-grants flowing from the National Rural Water Association as prime grantee.

As a prime grant recipient, Kentucky Rural Water Association received two Project Grants from the Appalachian Regional Commission under the Appalachian Area Development program (CFDA 23.002): $250,000 awarded October 1, 2023 (completion September 30, 2024) and $250,000 awarded October 1, 2024 (completion September 30, 2025), both designated for community infrastructure improvements. The organization's sub-grant work under the National Rural Water Association spans specialized technical assistance roles: employment and support for Water Quality Action Specialists providing training to decentralized wastewater systems and publicly-owned treatment works; Training Specialists supporting tribal, small, and rural public water systems on Safe Drinking Water Act compliance and long-term capacity; a Funding Specialist advising on financing planning and development; a Wastewater Technician delivering hands-on training; an Energy Efficiency Technician providing water and wastewater system guidance; a Disaster Recovery Circuit Rider offering post-disaster technical assistance; and an Apprenticeship Coordinator strengthening apprenticeship participation and placement in the water sector. Sub-grant awards span from July 2024 through September 2025, with the majority in FY2024 and FY2025.

Service Contract Inventory data shows minimal SCI-reportable activity — two sub-contractor records spanning FY2022 through FY2024 — with an estimated 4.3 FTEs in FY2022 declining to 3.2 FTEs in FY2024, reflecting the grant-and-subgrant structure rather than any significant federal service contracting footprint. The organization's federal activity concentrates on water infrastructure advisory and workforce development roles rather than direct service delivery contracts above the $150,000 SCI reporting threshold.