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USDA to bolster technical assistance for rural water and wastewater projects

by Erik Johnston
ASSOCIATE LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced that USDA is providing $14.2 million to help rural communities identify water and wastewater infrastructure needs that can be financed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

NACo testified on June 9, before the House Agriculture Committee on the need to provide enhanced technical assistance to ensure that the nation’s most rural counties have an opportunity to compete for USDA Rural Development programs funded in the Recovery Act.

The funding, announced July 9, will be provided under USDA Rural Development’s Rural Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program. It will enable the National Rural Water Association to add 15 water and 71 wastewater technical assistance staff in 2009 and 2010 to help rural communities operate and maintain water and wastewater infrastructure, and provide training and other technical assistance to local staff throughout the country.

Known as “Circuit Riders,” these technical assistance staff will help rural communities prepare proposals for water and wastewater systems, manage construction, offer on-site expertise, and ensure that health and environmental protection requirements are met. The assistance provided by Circuit Riders keeps water and wastewater systems in compliance with EPA rules and reduces — often by thousands of dollars — repair and maintenance costs borne by small rural communities that lack sufficient financial resources.

(To locate the Circuit Rider staff in your state, visit www.usda.gov/rus/water/docs/nrwamap.htm.)