Turning Rural Water Infrastructure Funding into Lasting Results

Access to infrastructure funding remains one of the most significant challenges facing small and rural water systems. A new report from the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP) highlights how technical assistance can help communities not only secure funding, but also successfully plan, manage, and sustain critical water and wastewater improvements.

In fiscal year 2025, RCAP and its regional partners provided assistance to 2,622 rural, tribal, and indigenous communities across all 50 states and five U.S. territories, impacting more than 4.1 million residents. The organization's network of more than 400 technical assistance providers works directly with local utilities and community leaders to strengthen technical, managerial, and financial capacity.

The report underscores the scale of infrastructure investment supported through technical assistance. Communities working with RCAP secured over $397 million in infrastructure funding awards and submitted applications for an $835.6 million in additional projects. According to RCAP, hundreds of communities completed technical and financial proposals that positioned them to pursue almost $1 billion in needed water and wastewater infrastructure investments.

Training and workforce development continued to be a major focus. RCAP delivered 567 trainings that reached more than 11,500 participants and 8,100 water systems nationwide. Operators represented the largest group of attendees, and post-training evaluations showed an average 18-point improvement in test scores, indicating meaningful gains in knowledge and skills. More than two-thirds of trainings served utilities with 3,300 connections or fewer. 

The report also highlights how technical assistance helps utilities tackle real-world operational challenges. Examples include assisting the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe in Michigan with service line inventory and GIS mapping, supporting financial sustainability efforts in Coldwater, Mississippi through a rate study and rate adjustment, helping communities improve asset mapping and stormwater management, and guiding tribal and rural systems through complex funding and compliance requirements.

Several new resources developed by RCAP may be of particular interest to water professionals, including guidance on innovative treatment technologies for emerging contaminants like PFAS, a stormwater program management guide for small communities, an asset management primer for utilities, and an e-learning course on cybersecurity for water and wastewater utilities.

A key takeaway from the report is that infrastructure dollars alone are not enough. Rural utilities often need support navigating funding programs, conducting planning studies, improving utility management practices, and building local leadership capacity. RCAP argues that combining infrastructure investment with technical assistance produces more sustainable outcomes, helping communities develop systems that remain compliant, financially viable, and resilient for years to come. 

For water sector professionals, the report serves as a reminder that successful infrastructure projects depend not only on funding availability but also on the technical, managerial, and financial capacity needed to transform investments into long-term community benefits.

Need assistance? 

Small and rural communities can connect with RCAP's network of regional partners for technical assistance related to drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, funding applications, asset management, operator support, utility planning, and more. Learn more and find your regional RCAP partner on RCAP's website.

RCAP's A Drop of Knowledge: Recent Article Roundup #2

A Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like wastewater, drinking water, policy, and infrastructure in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some recent featured articles are linked below:

• Effective Communication with the Community | RCAP
• System Vulnerability Assessments and Emergency Response Plans | RCAP
• Staff in Nebraska is Helping to Build a Sustainable, Resilient Utility Workforce | RCAP
• Administrative Professionals and Their Continuous Contributions to Water and Wastewater Systems | RCAP
• Assessing Your Collection System with a Pipeline Camera System  | RCAP
• Removing Arsenic from A Tribal School's Water System | RCAP

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.

RCAP’s Onsite/ Decentralized Program

RCAP (Rural Community Assistance Partnership) has an onsite/decentralized program that provides training, technical assistance, and financial resources to assist individual homeowners, neighborhoods and entire communities that rely on inadequate septic systems for their waste disposal. 

This program is mostly funded by U.S. EPA through the Rural Treatment Works and National Priority Area 2 grants. RCAP can offer hands-on training with community members, sanitarians, and any professionals who work with onsite systems as well as technical assistance. RCAP has been participating in the Biden administration’s Closing America’s Wastewater Access Gap Community Initiative in six of the 11 pilot communities located in persistent poverty/ disadvantaged areas.

Recently, we spoke with Sarah Buck, RCAP’s Chief Programs Officer, and she provided more information on this valuable resource for anyone working with onsite/decentralized wastewater systems. 

How does this program allow RCAP to help people with onsite/decentralized systems?

There are many ways that this program can help!

• With technical assistance providers, we can help set up a responsible management entity (RME) for decentralized systems.
• We’re able to do mapping activities to map septic systems in a community.
• We can look at areas with high concentrations of septic systems that pose environmental & health risks and help them review all of their options including interconnecting them or assisting with setting up a publicly owned water treatment works or decentralized system.
• We can help find funding to fund these types of projects in disadvantaged communities.

What are the eligible areas?

• Training and technical assistance generally is for communities of 10,000 or less in all 50 states and the US Territories including on Tribal lands/for Tribal septic owners.

Is there financial assistance available?

• Most of RCAP’s regional partners participate in the USDA Decentralized and Well Revolver Fund which provides funding that well and septic owners can use for replacements or updates.

How to apply for assistance? 

• Go to RCAP’s website and fill out the “Get Assistance” Form which will go to someone at the national office. They will then send that form to a regional partner near you to set up a technical assistance consultation.
• Find your local provider on RCAP’s website and contact them directly.
• Fill out U.S. EPA’s Water Technical Assistance Request Form and be assigned a provider that way.

Who are the partners that are assisting with this program?

• RCAP & their 6 Regional Partners
  • Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) – The Western RCAP
    • Serving Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Washington
  • RCAP Solutions (RSOL) – The Northeastern and Caribbean RCAP
    • Serving all six New England States, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands
  • Midwest Assistance Program (MAP) – The Midwest RCAP
    • Serving Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming
  • Southeast Rural Community Assistance Partnership (SERCAP) – The Southeastern RCAP
    • Serving Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia
  • Communities Unlimited (CU) – The Southern RCAP
    • Serving Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas
  • Great Lakes Community Action Partnership (GLCAP) – The Great Lakes RCAP
    • Serving Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, West Virginia, and Wisconsin
• National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA)
• WaterOperator.org
• Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA)
• Moonshot Missions (a new national EFC)

Further Resources?

• Sign up for A Drop of Knowledge and Rural Matters to receive updates on work RCAP is doing
• RCAP hosts multiple webinars a year dedicated to onsite/decentralized topics | View Archive
• New Onsite Wastewater Treatment System User Guide created in collaboration with NOWRA | View PDF
• Developing a new Septic Assessment Tool in collaboration with WaterOperator.org that will be piloted fall 2023 and will be available as a fillable PDF online

RCAP's A Drop of Knowledge: Recent Article Roundup #1

A Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like wastewater, drinking water, policy, and infrastructure in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some recent featured articles are linked below:

• Flushable Wipes Causing Pump Clogs? Pump Flow Tests Can Alert Operators Faster
• A Look Inside RCAP’s Fly-In: Meeting With the Team Behind the Fly-In
• “To Pump, or Not to Pump, that is the question…”
• Changing Temperatures Can Set Back Wastewater Lagoons
• How to Determine the True Cost of a System When Conducting a Rate Study
• Getting the Lead Out - Lead and Copper Compliance in New Jersey

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.

RCAP’s Free Monthly Articles for Water and Wastewater Operators

A Drop of Knowledge is a monthly digital article from Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP.) The articles focus on topics like infrastructure, capacity building, and economic development in rural America. It contains how-to’s, tips, and guidance from more than 300 technical assistance providers (TAPs) across the country. Some recent featured articles are linked below:

• Small South Dakota City Leverages Funds to Complete Expensive Sewer System Upgrade 
• Cross Connection Control – A Holistic Approach
• Are Your Utilities Prepared for the Upcoming Winter?
• Water Utility Digital Transformation
• Ohio Site Visit Shows Wastewater Potential of Sand Bioreactors
• Understanding Onsite and Decentralized Wastewater in America

Looking for something else? Find more articles and subscribe to A Drop of Knowledge.
 

A Message from Nathan Ohle, RCAP CEO

Editor's Note: WaterOperator.org is proudly funded through a partnership with the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP). In this blog post we have highlighted a recent statement by RCAP CEO Nathan Ohle in response to the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed.

Throughout the past few weeks, we have witnessed yet another systemic injustice with the death of George Floyd and the protests that followed. Over four decades, the RCAP Network has always stood for the common good, including a fair and just society that fosters healthy conversations, true collaboration and equitable partnerships. We strive to celebrate and lift the incredibly diverse make up of rural and tribal communities that we see every day through our work.

We do not have all the answers to address the inequity taking place across the country, or yet know what role the RCAP Network can play in this conversation. However, it is clear that we need to create a space for those conversations to take shape, and to elevate the voices of the rural communities that are working collaboratively with people from all walks of life. We work on regionalization and regional collaboration projects across the country, helping to facilitate tough conversations and bridge differences between and among communities. Those tough conversations are critical to ensuring that we create equitable opportunity for all communities.

What we see happening today in America is not just happening in big cities, it lives in communities of all sizes. Everyone wants to feel safe, secure, and valued, but too many people in this country do not.

Rural communities are much more diverse than most people realize. It is the diversity that exists in rural communities that makes them so special. Ensuring that everyone has affordable access to safe drinking water and sanitary wastewater disposal was the founding principal of RCAP, with a specific focus on the most vulnerable populations across the country. As we consider where we can play a role, we are always here to listen, learn and to support important conversations in whatever form they should take. RCAP will continue to focus on creating and lifting up positive stories, encouraging continued collaboration, providing venues for fruitful conversations, and ensuring that rural communities of color have an equitable opportunity.

RCAP Advocacy and Policy Update: COVID-19 Response

Over the last two weeks, the National Office has been active in promoting the needs of rural water systems and small communities during this ongoing COVID-19 crisis. In the last two weeks, Congress has approved and President Trump signed into law Phase 1 (H.R. 6074) and Phase 2 (H.R. 6201) legislation addressing the COVID-19 crisis in a variety of ways. Phases I, II, and III are the three parts to COVID-19 legislation so far. 
 
Phase I, enacted into law March 6. Provides $8.3 billion in emergency funding for federal agencies to ensure vaccines developed to fight the coronavirus are affordable, that impacted small businesses can qualify for Small Business Administration (SBA) Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs), and that Medicare recipients can consult with their providers by telephone or teleconference, if necessary or desired.
 
Phase II, signed into law on March 18. This package includes provisions for paid sick leave, free coronavirus testing, expanded food assistance, additional unemployment benefits, and requirements that employers provide additional protection for healthcare workers. 
 
Phase III, signed into law on March 27. The Trump administration struck a deal with Senate Democrats and Republicans on a package providing an estimated $2 trillion in spending and tax breaks to strengthen the U.S. economy and fund a nationwide effort to curtail the coronavirus. The price tag of this package is enormous, unprecedented, and is roughly equal to 10% of the country’s economic output. The plan includes approximately $500 billion that can be used to back loans to distressed companies, including $50 billion for loans to U.S. airlines, as well as state and local governments. It also contains more than $350 billion to aid small businesses. While stipulating the airlines as eligible for a special fund of money available for loans, the legislation is otherwise broad in its approach, recognizing that the coronavirus has affected almost every sector of the economy. 
 
It provides payment to states to reimburse nonprofits, government agencies, and Indian tribes for half of the costs they incur through December 31, 2020 to pay unemployment benefits; and funding to support “short-time compensation” programs, where employers reduce employee hours instead of laying off workers. Employees with reduced hours receive a pro-rated unemployment benefit. This provision would pay 100 percent of the costs they incur in providing this short-time compensation through December 31, 2020.
 
Under Phase Ill, all U.S. residents with adjusted gross income up to $75,000 ($150,000 for married couples) would get a $1,200 ($2,400 for couples) "rebate" payment. They are also eligible for an additional $500 per child. The payments would start phasing out for earners above those income thresholds and would not go to single filers earning more than $99,000; head-of-household filers with one child, more than $146,500; and more than $198,000 for joint filers with no children.

Thank you to Ted Stiger, Senior Director of Government Relations and Policy at the Rural Community Assistance Partnership for providing this update on enacted legislation related to the pandemic.

Featured Videos: RCAP's Technical Assistance Providers on What's Really Important About Their Jobs

Educate Decision Makers With Help From RCAP

Google “drinking water” or “wastewater,” and you’re sure to find a growing list of news articles about lead safety concerns, the recent PFOA and PFOS advisory, nitrogen and phosphorus pollution, and our crumbling infrastructure. The weight and fervor of these public discussions may concern some who grapple to protect our drinking water and environment. But increased attention has its benefits. It could mean your board members and other community decision makers would be more receptive to learning about your operations and operational needs. And that’s an opportunity you don’t want to miss.

Last year, the Rural Community Assistance Partnership released two video series designed to help leaders in small, rural communities make more informed decisions about drinking water and wastewater operations, maintenance, and expansion. Each video spends roughly 2-4 minutes walking the audience through a different technical step in the drinking water or wastewater treatment process. Click on the links below to watch the videos.

Wastewater Treatment

1. Introduction
2. Collection system
3. Preliminary treatment
4. Primary treatment
5. Secondary treatment
6. Solids and sludge handling
7. Effluent disinfection
8. Effluent disposal

Drinking Water Systems

1. Introduction
2. Raw water intake
3. Pre-settlement and pre-treatment
4. Static mixers and flash chambers
5. Sedimentation and filtration
6. Distribution systems

Beyond these series, sharing the RCAP video The Importance of an Operator in a Community’s Water System with your governing body will provide insight into the day-to-day work of an operator and the importance of that role.  

Click here to browse these videos in a playlist.

To find more videos from RCAP and other technical assistance providers, visit our Documents Database and click Videos in the Type category. And subscribe to the WaterOperator.org newsletter to get featured videos and other resources sent straight to your inbox.