Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 - (Page 13)

However, due to a lack of economies of scale, it is often more difﬁcult for smalltowns to comply with federal rules, afford the latest technology and have access to technical experts.” In addition to being the main source of compliance assistance, rural water has been the main source of assistance in emergency response in small and rural communities. Rural water technicians were the lead assistance in Greensburg, Kansas, in restoring the drinking water and sanitary sewer service to that tornado-stricken small community (providing water to the temporary hospital, housing units and the community in time). This was also the case in the response to the hurricanes in the Gulf Coast where the hundreds of small and rural communities relied on assistance from the local and surrounding state rural water associations for immediate assistance in restoring drinking water and sanitation service. The rural water circuit riders were able to use their contacts across the state to acquire parts, plumbers, gas technicians, pipe, etc., that only comes from networking in the association of water and wastewater utilities. As local Gulf Coast mayors stated in their testimony before Congress, “what is needed in this crisis and future crises is immediate access to technical personnel and equipment… The types of people that are needed are: experienced operators, electricians, machinery crews, machine repair crews, expert pipe repair personnel, contractors, etc. From the mayor’s perspective, water is about the most important service for public welfare. Sanitation is critical, however, a community can get by for some time with loss of sanitation… but drinking water is an immediate and essential public health and welfare service.” The Etheridge bill speciﬁcally recognizes this dynamic and includes it in the ﬁ ndings section of the legislation. Rural water technical assistance has been the main source of security assistance in small and rural communities. The most successful and widely supported EPA requirement to date was the vulnerability assessment (VA) mandate under the Bio-Terrorism Act of 2002. Immediately after passage, rural water associations guided all their state’s communities through a simpliﬁed vulnerability assessment model – allowing for immediate compliance. Most allsmall communities utilized the rural water assistance to complete their vulnerability assessment for no charge. For example, in Minnesota, 85 percent of the state’s systems used rural water to complete their vulnerability assessment (this success was typical of most states). As you can see by all the depth of work that was accomplished in Minnesota in the links discussed previously (and its massive local support), having the local support is the fundamental key to making the federal funding (the federal assistance initiatives) work in rural and small communities. If enacted, the Etheridge bill will ensure that this essential principle for success is part of the federal funding. Everyone wants to make sure drinking water stays safe; however, it will take rural leaders like Rep. Etheridge to make federal policy more favorable to rural and small community consumers. Fourth Quarter 2008 • 13 http://www.grpumps.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008 Contents From the President Rural Water: Where are We Headed? The Future of Water in America Bank Collateral Controls in Nervous Times Bottle of Water or Billion Dollar Bully? Aqua Chocolate No Mas Why Even Small Water Systems Should Have Personnel Policy Manuals Safe Drinking Water Regulatory Update 2008 NRWA Industry Event Throwing My Loop Advertisers.com Index to Advertisers From the CEO

Rural Water - Quarter 4, 2008

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