Maine Rural Water Association

Maine Rural Water Association, a non-profit organization based in Richmond, Maine, operates as a subcontractor delivering training and technical assistance to rural drinking water and wastewater systems under federal grant awards. The organization acts predominantly as a sub-recipient (75% of recent awards) rather than a prime grant recipient, with work routed through the National Rural Water Association as prime grantee across five distinct customer agencies.

Maine Rural Water Association's federal footprint is heavily concentrated in environmental water programs. The Environmental Protection Agency Office for Water Funding Office anchors eight awards (94% coverage of award count across the top customer set), while the Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, the Department of the Army Corps of Engineers Engineering District New England, and the Department of Agriculture Rural Housing Service Water and Environmental Programs round out the active customer base. The organization's award count is small but active — sixteen total awards spanning 2002 through May 2026, with awards clustering in recent years (five in 2025, three each in 2023 and 2024, and one in 2026).

The organization's sub-grant work centers on staffing specialist and technician roles that deliver no-cost, hands-on assistance to eligible rural water systems. Representative work includes sub-grants to employ a Training Specialist providing training and technical assistance to tribal, small, and rural public water systems to promote Safe Drinking Water Act compliance and long-term sustainability (awarded August 2024 and August 2025); a Water Quality Action Specialist providing training and technical assistance to decentralized wastewater systems and publicly-owned treatment works (September 2023 and September 2025); a Wastewater Technician providing training and technical assistance to wastewater systems (July 2024 and July 2025); a Funding Specialist providing training and technical assistance on financing planning, development, and acquisition (July 2025); and an Apprenticeship Coordinator strengthening participation and placement in the broader network (October 2024). Maine Rural Water also holds a single sub-contract under National Rural Water Association dated May 2026 to oversee a Circuit Rider who provides one-on-one, no-cost training and technical assistance to eligible rural drinking water systems serving populations of ten thousand or less.

Combined potential value across all awards is $37 thousand, while combined dollars obligated total $1.3 million — reflecting the sub-recipient structure and the gap between award authority and actual drawdown across multi-year grant periods. The Service Contract Inventory dataset captures two records (both as named subcontractor, zero as prime) across fiscal years 2022 through 2025, showing a stable two FTEs delivered to federal programs. The organization operates as a technical assistance and training delivery unit within the broader National Rural Water Association network, with no prime federal contract or grant vehicles and no presence on government-wide acquisition vehicles.