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Michael H. ShapiroDeputy Assistant AdministratorOffice of Water
FY 14-15: Agency Priority Goal
Improve public health protection for persons served by small drinking water systems, which account for more than 97% of public water systems in the U.S., by strengthening the technical, managerial, and financial capacity of those systems.
Priority Goal
Goal Overview
The responsibility for communities and public water systems to continuously provide safe drinking water is a key component of the Nation’s health and well-being. The delivery of safe drinking water is often taken for granted and is extremely undervalued. More than 156,000 public water systems provide drinking water to the approximately 305 million persons in the U.S. More than 97% of these public water systems serve fewer than 10,000 persons. Many of the communities that operate these small systems face a number of challenges in their ability to reliably administer, operate, and assure adequate and long term funding capacity in order to provide safe drinking water to their customers. These challenges include aging infrastructure, increased regulatory requirements, workforce shortages/high-turnover, increasing operational costs, and declining rate bases, and extreme natural disasters/weather events. EPA will work closely with state primacy agencies, tribes, and other organizations to implement a series of efforts to address these challenge areas and strengthen the capacity of small systems to sustainably provide safe water to the public now and in the future.
Trends and Milestone Status Updates:
Capacity Development Program: The 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) Amendments established a strong emphasis on enhanced water system management to achieve and maintain technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) capacity of water systems. The Capacity Development Program establishes a framework within which states and water systems can work together to help systems achieve the SDWA’s public health protection objectives. The state Capacity Development programs are supported federally by the Public Water System Supervision state grant funds and the set-asides established in the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Since the 1996 Amendments, states have implemented a variety of activities to assist small systems with their compliance challenges and enhance their technical, managerial, and financial capacity.
In FY 2010, EPA re-energized its small systems focus with the intent to work more closely with state programs to improve public water system sustainability and public health protection for persons served by small water systems. As such, EPA launched the State/EPA Re-Energizing Workgroup to better understand state programs’ existing implementation efforts, evaluate barriers to water system capacity and identify areas where EPA and states need to collaborate to improve program implementation. The workgroup released its findings document in April 2011 http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/upload/re-energizing_ap..., which identifies challenges faced by small systems and states in assisting them, best practices for assisting small systems, and other opportunities to further enhance state programs. In addition, four additional State/EPA workgroups were formed in FY 2011 and conducted further discussions of topics identified by states: promoting water system partnerships to improve system sustainability; opportunities to improve collaboration across various state and federal programs to increase efficiency and assist small systems; best practices for assessing managerial capacity of small systems and opportunities to increase asset management; approaches for addressing projected water sector workforce shortages.
In FY12, EPA launched two new EPA-state workgroups: Asset Management Workgroup and the Non-Community Water Systems (NCWS) Workgroup. EPA also partnered with other federal agencies that work with small systems, such as USDA-Rural Development, or offer resources that can assist small systems with workforce challenges, such as the Department of Labor and Department of Veterans Affairs. Through these and other efforts, EPA has worked with states to continue to enhance their Capacity Development programs to improve small system capabilities.
Optimization Program: EPA’s Optimization Program or Area Wide Optimization Program (AWOP) provides a systematic approach for states and tribes to assess small water system performance, deliver needed technical assistance, measure the results of those efforts, and maintain performance at drinking water utilities. The Optimization program helps states and tribes prioritize their technical assistance resources by identifying which public water systems are in most need of help (based on water quality and public health risk) and most effectively apply a range of compliance and technical assistance tools to enable small water systems to meet (and sustain) compliance requirements and optimization goals. This is being done through a series of ongoing field training activities.
The Optimization Program was first piloted in 1998 in one EPA region with Drinking Water Program (DWP) staff from four states; the program is currently utilized by over 20 states with support from four EPA regions. The program originally focused on optimizing surface water treatment plant performance to improve finished water quality (lower microbial risk); more recently these concepts have been applied to control Disinfection By-Products (DBPs) in the treatment plant and distribution system, and are now being piloted to address groundwater systems, distribution system water age and storage challenges, and systems that utilize membrane filtration. Additionally, operators at systems that pursue optimization often possess the prioritization and problem solving skills to address “unexpected” challenges (e.g., natural disasters, security concerns) and longer term changes in water quality (e.g., due to the impact of climate change). The Optimization Program and the Capacity Development Program have been working together to identify opportunities for collaboration and integration of core program activities. Combined, these programs provide resources, guidelines, technical assistance and a framework to the states to assist them in managing their drinking water programs and helping small systems.
Strategies
To improve the compliance and long-term sustainability of small systems, EPA launched its Small Systems Approach with the objectives of 1) strengthening and targeting financial support to small systems; 2) working with primacy agencies to enhance their Capacity Development programs and capabilities, including the Optimization program approach to prioritize efforts with those systems most in need; and 3) identifying opportunities to promote water system partnerships, including restructuring, where applicable for systems struggling to be sustainable. EPA has developed strong support for its collaborative approach among its state partners.
The Agency will build upon the work conducted to date under the Small Systems Approach as well as the accomplishments realized during fiscal year 2012/2013 to implement the following activities associated with these objectives:
- Share more case examples and best practices with states on implementing sustainable management practices at small systems, targeting financial support, innovations in Capacity Development programs and encouraging water system partnerships during webinars and industry programs;
- Promote and engage states and tribes in the Optimization Program approach to prioritize the needs of the systems and the states limited resources to ensure systems most in need meet current regulations and are prepared to comply with future regulatory requirements;
- Educate and train states and tribes on tools and resources to support system sustainability, including asset management (see note below), resiliency and energy/water efficiency ; and
- Work with other federal agencies to leverage their programs and resources to assist small systems through coordinating funding for infrastructure needs, aligning technical assistance, and enhancing water sector workforce recruitment and training.
Note: In drinking water and wastewater systems, an "asset" is a component of a facility with an independent physical and functional identity and age (e.g., pump, motor, sedimentation tank, main). The renewal and replacement of the assets that make up our nation's water infrastructure is a constant and ongoing task. To efficiently manage this important part of a utility's business, many have turned to asset management. This approach has gained recognition all across the world—and across all infrastructure heavy sectors—for its effectiveness in maximizing the value of capital, as well as operations and maintenance expenditures.
To implement its strategy, EPA is working in partnership with states, tribes, other federal agencies, third-party technical assistance providers, and utility associations on a variety of activities. To reach our state partners, tribes, as well as other organizations assisting small water systems, EPA leads EPA-state workgroups on priority issues, hosts numerous webinars on sustainable management practices (e.g., asset management, energy efficiency), treatment optimization, technical issues related to meeting drinking water standards, and state best practices for assisting small systems.
Progress Update
During the fourth quarter of FY 2015 (July – September 31, 2015), EPA continued to engage with states on a number of activities to help strengthen the capacity/capabilities of small systems.
- EPA hosted three training webinars to present treatment technologies available for small systems. The July training webinar addressed Corrosion Control for drinking water systems. The August training webinar addressed distribution operation options for small systems to address DBPs. The September training webinar addressed UV disinfection systems for small systems.
- As part of EPA Region 7’s Sustainability Assessment project, the Region conducted three additional board and council trainings between April-June 2015. A total of seven board and council trainings have been completed this year.
- EPA held WARN exercises in Wyoming, North Dakota and Rhode Island to facilitate the sharing of resources among utilities and develop a coordinated and comprehensive approach to intrastate mutual aid and assistance for the water sector in the event of an emergency.
- EPA also held an Interstate Mutual Aid and Assistance Workshop for Region 4 states to explore interstate mutual aid and assistance mechanisms for water utilities.
- EPA held a water sector emergency preparedness exercise in Oklahoma.
- EPA held a Water Energy Nexus workshop in California to increase power resiliency and facilitate coordination between water utilities and power providers during emergencies.
- EPA held a Community Based Water Resiliency workshop in South Carolina to increase utility and community knowledge of how to prepare for emergencies and increase resilience at the community level.
- The EPA/State Re-Energizing workgroup hosted their fourth conference call in July 2015. The goal of this EPA/State workgroup is to identify ways of improving the implementation of the state operator certification programs to help drinking water operators gain the knowledge and experience needed to efficiently run public water systems.
- EPA co-hosted with the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, the National Area-Wide Optimization Meeting. States shared perspectives on their unique application of optimization tools, presented sessions on data integrity, and discussed adapting optimization concepts to addressing harmful algal blooms and cyanobacteria.
During FY2014 & FY2105, 32 states and 8 tribes (as well as the Region 5 tribes) significantly improved their technical, managerial & financial capability to work with small systems beyond their levels achieved during the FY2012 & FY2013 Agency Priority Goal activities. All states participated at varying levels in the EPA’s capacity development, treatment optimization, or improving system resiliency programs.
The achievement of the priority goal demonstrates the success of EPA’s long term collaboration with the states to assist small drinking water systems. Long‐standing relationships prior to this goal period built trust and partnering opportunities that will continue to thrive in the coming years to assist small systems that are struggling with capacity and resiliency issues. EPA continues to engage States, as well as water sector stakeholders to provide the necessary training and technical assistance needed to ensure sustainability of these small public water systems. Emphasizing asset management planning, water and energy efficiency practices and other utility management and financial practices that ensure long-term technical, managerial and financial capacity of small systems is key to improving the success of small drinking water systems. In addition, EPA will continue its established collaboration agreement with USDA to coordinate activities to provide assistance to small drinking water systems that need help complying with drinking water regulations, maintaining resiliency to extreme weather events, and lack adequate governance structure to keep the system operating sustainably.
Next Steps
No Data Available
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Performance Indicators
Small Drinking Water Systems With Repeat Health-Based Violations
DWSRF Funds Awarded to Small Drinking Water Systems
DWSRF Projects Awarded to Small Drinking Water Systems
Contributing Programs & Other Factors
This effort to build the capabilities of small public water systems to sustainably provide safe drinking water to their customers has led EPA to reach out to other federal agencies with common interests. EPA is working collaboratively with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in achieving this goal.
- Partnering with USDA – Rural Utilities Service under a Memorandum of Agreement announced in August 2011 to assist rural communities with drinking water and wastewater compliance challenges, water sector workforce needs, and utility management practices to ensure long-term sustainability.
- Partnering with Department of Veterans Affairs – Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service under a Memorandum of Agreement in May 2012 to facilitate the recruitment and training of veterans with disabilities for water sector careers through linking Veterans Affairs programs with the workforce needs of drinking water and wastewater utilities.
- Update on MOA Activity from FY2012 & FY2013:
- For the USDA MOA, a 4-part webinar series was held highlighting different types of water system partnerships to improve small system sustainability; also held a series of workshops for small systems to help them assess their strengths and opportunities to enhance their capacity; coordinated with the National Rural Water Association to promote hiring of veterans; and jointly encouraged states funding programs and USDA state offices to coordinate infrastructure project funding.
- For the VA MOU, held webinars to educate state operator certification programs on the benefits and programs offered by the VA, educate VA counselors on water sector careers and requirements of state operator certification, and for utilities on VA programs. We also developed a guide to VA programs to assist water utilities.
The Agency is also partnering with the following state programs and industry associations.
- State PWSS primacy agencies
- State Capacity Development, Operator Certification, DWSRF, and Optimization Programs
- Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, American Water Works Association, Water Environment Federation, National Rural Water Association
No Data Available
