KRWA Technical Assistance Programs Federal Water & Wastewater Circuit Rider Small System Circuit Rider Peer Review Program Groundwater Protection Federal Water and Wastewater Circuit Rider Program The Kentucky Rural Water Association/Rural Development (RD) Circuit Rider program, which began in 1980, was expanded from one position to three during fiscal year 1990.  KRWA now has two Circuit Riders assisting in the field of water treatment and distribution.  The Circuit Riders and Wastewater Technician specialize in providing on-site, hands-on assistance to rural and small municipal water and wastewater systems.  An average of 35 contacts per month is required.  The Circuit Riders provide assistance and training to the systems in all areas of management, operation, and maintenance to ensure financial and operational viability for the repayment of Rural Development loans.  The Circuit Rider's assistance helps protect the government's investment by aiding these systems to become high quality, well-managed utilities that are able to make loan payments in a timely manner.  Since the Circuit Rider program began, the Rural Development loan delinquency rate has been lowered to less than 1% nationally. Objectives: Provide professional on-site technical assistance to rural and small water and wastewater systems. Provide training to system personnel and boards through on-site assistance. Provide assistance to systems in acquiring financing to build, expand, upgrade systems, and compliance with federal/state drinking water and wastewater rules and regulations. Specific Responsibilities: Travels extensively throughout the state to offer on-site technical assistance. Provides assistance in all areas of operation, maintenance, management, and health and environmental issues. Provides the type of assistance that offers "training" rather than "fixing." Reads new technical standards set and proposed by public and private organizations. Develops informational articles for dissemination. Responds to inquires from facilities, consumers, governmental agencies, and others regarding technical matters. On-site assistance must geographically represent the state during the program period. Assistance should be provided to unincorporated municipal systems under 10,000 in population. Visits the appropriate State and/or Area Rural Development officials at least monthly. Accurately completes and submits the required reporting in the required timely fashions. Small System Circuit Rider The "Circuit Rider" approach to providing a combination of on-site technical assistance and training is nationally recognized as the most effective method of assisting small public water systems to comply with state and federal environmental regulations.  The Circuit Rider program offers a focused approach that serves to complement and enhance current training and technical assistance efforts offered by state rural water associations, state primacy agencies, and other organizations.  This multi-faceted program will provide new opportunities for reaching out to non-community/non-transient public water systems--the systems that need the most help in reaching compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act because of their lack of size, inadequate organizational structure, and lack of sophistication.  It is the intention of the Circuit Rider program to work in partnership with Kentucky Division of Water (DOW) to target the public water systems serving populations under 3,300, with particular emphasis on systems serving less than 500 people, that are experiencing profound difficulties in complying with SDWA provisions. Groundwater Protection The Groundwater Protection and Technical Assistance Program is funded by Congress through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state of Kentucky.  This program was developed to assist small water systems and rural communities in the design and implementation of their own individual wellhead protection plans at the local level. The Groundwater Program is designed to initiate preventative measures (in steps) on the local level which will identify potential sources of contamination, educate the local residents, prevent non-compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act, lessen the financial burden on consumers and funding agencies, and prevent the degradation of drinking water supplies for future generations. Specific Responsibilities: Develop and implement a plan to address the state specific wellhead/ground water protection needs of rural and small community water systems in the state Provides assistance and support in facilitating the implementation of wellhead/ground water protection plans. Provides assistance and support in wellhead/ground water protection planning. Provides presentations and assistance to local officials, community groups, and others. Writes reports and develops informational articles for dissemination. Responds to inquiries from facilities, consumers, governmental agencies, and others regarding technical matters. Acts as a liaison to create better coordination, communication and collaboration between rural and small communities and local, state and federal agencies. Completes and submits the required reporting as scheduled. Plans must be completed, utilizing the following five step program: The designation of a community planning team.  For the purpose of this program the term "Community Planning Team" will refer to a committee-like body, designated to be responsible for the formulation of the wellhead/ground water protection plan. Defining the area that needs protection.  This step of development will focus on meeting the wellhead protection requirements of the EPA and/or State Regulatory Agencies.  this step will start with the delineation of a wellhead/ground water protection area to comply with the State Wellhead Protection Plans.   As part of this step and depending on the state specific needs, condition, and resources, it may be expanded into a broader based wellhead/ground water protection area. Identify and locate "potential contaminants" in the delineation area. Begin management of the protection area.  Management of the area will vary depending on the specific location and other variables such as economy, industry, the political climate in a community and resources.  The management of the area may be non-regulatory such as a public education and posting the protection area or regulatory such as land use planning and the formation of environmental ordinances.   Step 4 will provide regulatory or non-regulatory authority to manage the protection area. Planning for the future. Step 5 is the development of an emergency contingency plan should the water supply be contaminated.  Step 5 activities could also include the identification of future problems and solutions; review and update of plans; and contingency plans for long and short term water supply alternatives.  Step 5 is a follow-up step to the implementation stage of the plan.   In some states, this may already be in place through local or state emergency plan requirements and merely need to be incorporated into the wellhead/ground water protection plan.  Step 5 is considered a longer range objective in the plan. A minimum of 75 hours of state specific activities are required annually.  Implementation of a minimum of 13 wellhead/ground water protection plans through Step 4 are required annually, averaging 4.33 system steps monthly. Peer Review Program The Program Review Peer, a jointly sponsored program with the Kentucky Association of Counties, has the potential to substantially enhance the operational and management efficiency of water systems in Kentucky by enlisting the responsibility, involvement, commitment and cooperation of local, state and federal levels of government and participating communities. How Does the Program Work? Self-Assessment Participating communities are public, private or municipal water systems that provide potable drinking water services.  The Peer Review program is geared toward small and rural communities, but not limited by size or function. To begin the process, the participating system fills out a comprehensive Self-Assessment form to evaluate the present condition of the system and bring attention to noticeable problems of the system.  The Self-Assessment is then sent to the Peer Review Team. On-Site Peer Review Evaluation A Peer Review team, made up of volunteers from surrounding communities, is assigned to do an in-depth evaluation of the participating system.   The focus of the team is meeting requirements of existing state and federal regulations including the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Upon completion, the team presents their evaluation to the management of the participating system, along with recommendations for meeting required regulations. Recommendations Once the evaluation is completed, and recommendations are presented to meet the requirements of existing regulations, the Peer Review team may also make suggestions to benefit the system in other areas such as: Enhance System Performance Sustainable Development Economic Growth & Financing Improving Quality of Water Educating Communities Confidentiality All Peer Review activities are held in the strictest confidence between the team and participating system.  The scope of the Peer Review program is to help systems comply with current regulations and the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). Anticipated Outcome The Program has community and system commitment; sustainability; and economic benefits for water supply management, performance and protection.  Communities, systems, and governments are encouraged to work cooperatively toward improving environmental performance providing technical, managerial and financial assistance through Peer Reviews with state and federal guidance.  With this program, communities and systems will assist each other in the development of management to enhance viability; sustainable development; economic growth; and educating communities and the public while improving the quality of the state's water supply. Partners in the Program Kentucky Rural Water Association Kentucky Association of Counties State of Kentucky, NREPC Kentucky Water & Wastewater Operators Association Kentucky Public Service Commission Kentucky League of Cities Kentucky Dept. for Local Government Conference of Southern County Assn. U.S. EPA, Region 4 Kentucky River Authority KRWA has coordinated the Peer Review effort for approximately fifteen systems in Kentucky over a two-year period.  During the past year, the Peer Review Program received the coveted Vice Presidential "Hammer Award" for this innovative work at brining water systems together to help them help themselves. A copy of our Peer Review Volunteer Application, Peer Review Request Form, or the Peer Review Self-Evaluation are available on our downloads page.