EPA Announces $30M To Help Small And Rural Communities Protect Their Water

Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the availability of $30M in grant funding, as part of the agency’s RealWaterTA Initiative. This newly available funding supports technical assistance and training to benefit small drinking water and wastewater systems and to help private well owners improve drinking water quality. RealWaterTA funding helps connect small and rural drinking water and wastewater systems with tried-and-true services, such as engineering and design expertise, operational support, workforce development, and financial management. This funding will benefit Americans nationwide, especially in rural areas where small systems face challenges operating and maintaining vital water infrastructure.

“Rural communities are the backbone of this country, and I firmly believe that we must do everything we can to ensure that they can continue to have access to clean and safe water,” said EPA Assistant Administrator for Water Jess Kramer. “EPA is investing $30M from the RealWaterTA initiative to provide resources to small and rural communities who are working to fulfill critical water infrastructure needs to protect human health and the environment and Power the Great American Comeback.”

In the U.S., over 90% of drinking water systems serve fewer than 10,000 people and many of these systems are in rural communities. These small drinking water systems, as well as small wastewater systems, work hard to protect their communities’ water, but they face unique challenges including high operator turnover, aging infrastructure, and lack of financial resources. Through this grant, EPA will fund organizations that will work side-by-side with small systems and private well owners across the country to address their challenges and continue to provide clean and safe water that is foundational to people’s health.

Eligible applicants for this grant opportunity are nonprofit organizations, nonprofit private universities and colleges, and public institutions of higher education. EPA anticipates that up to five awards will be made, totaling up to $30.7M in federal funds.

The purpose of the agreements is to provide training and technical assistance to:

• Small public water systems to achieve and maintain compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act.
• Small public water systems on a wide range of managerial and/or financial topics that support compliance.
• Small publicly owned wastewater systems and communities served by onsite-decentralized wastewater systems to help strengthen local water resources.
• Private well owners to help improve drinking water quality.

This grant is part of the EPA’s larger commitment through Real Water Technical Assistance (RealWaterTA), which aims to provide a range of assistance for communities to identify water challenges, identify solutions, and give real-world results. The application period for these competitive grants is now open. The funding opportunity will remain open for 30 days on Grants.gov.

Learn more about Training and Technical Assistance for Small Systems Funding.