Financial Technical Assistance and Tools for Water Infrastructure
The Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center works with on-the-ground partners to provide financial technical assistance to communities. The Center provides:
- Objective financial advice to help communities make informed decisions on funding drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects.
- Access to tools that help utilities make financing decisions that meet their local infrastructure needs.
The Center does not fund water infrastructure capital or predevelopment projects.
Community Assistance for Resiliency and Excellence (WaterCARE)
WaterCARE supports communities in developing finance planning strategies for drinking water and wastewater infrastructure that meet long-term local needs. The Center is partnering with the Environmental Finance Center Network to provide predevelopment technical assistance to 10 communities across the country.
WaterCARE communities have a combination of the following criteria: a population less than 100,000, a need to address public health challenges, below-average median household income, and/or readiness to proceed with a water infrastructure project.
Program services can include assistance with developing alternative analyses, rate and revenue analyses, asset management practices, financing/funding options, affordability analyses, fiscal sustainability plans, water efficiency studies, resiliency assessments, regional partnerships, public engagement and customer outreach, and decision-maker/board education and training.
Project successes will be shared to support decision making for other communities that have similar water infrastructure financing needs.
- Buchanan County, Virginia
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe (Montana)
- Gatesville, Texas
- Haines Borough, Alaska
- Hoopa Valley Tribe (California)
- Johnston, Iowa
- Lawrence, Massachusetts
- Selma, Alabama
- The Township of South Orange Village, New Jersey
- Youngstown, Ohio
See the map of WaterCARE Communities.
Affordability Programs
Households on fixed or lower incomes, as well as households that face a temporary crisis such as a job loss or illness, may have difficulty paying water and sewer bills. Many drinking water and wastewater utilities have seen an opportunity to meet specific customer needs, along with the needs of meeting their own operational and capital costs to provide drinking water delivery and/or wastewater management services, through developing customer assistance programs (CAPs).
- A compendium of Drinking Water and Wastewater Customer Assistance Programs has been compiled to describe the benefits, implementation, and examples of CAPs throughout the country. These examples show the short-term or long-term reductions through a Bill Discount, Flexible Terms, Lifeline Rate, Temporary Assistance, and Water Efficiency advantages.
- Webinar on Customer Assistance Programs at Drinking Water and Wastewater Utilities
Learn how drinking water and wastewater utilities are implementing customer assistance programs (CAPs) created for customers having difficulty paying for water and sewer bills. CAPs help all customers receive the public health benefits of drinking water and wastewater services, while also helping utilities meet their financial needs and obligations.
Technical Assistance Partners
The Center collaborates with stakeholders that work with small and rural systems to increase financial capabilities.
- Capacity Development Program
EPA’s capacity development program helps small system owners and operators, state and tribal agencies, technical assistance providers, and consumers help small water systems provide safe drinking water and protect public health. Every state has a capacity development program to help small systems improve their finances, management, infrastructure, and operations.
- Environmental Finance Center (EFC) Network
EFCs partner with, states, tribes, local governments and the private sector to deliver targeted technical assistance to the water sector. EFCs and their partners provide innovative solutions to help manage the costs of environmental financing and program management.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development
Rural Development offers loans, grants, loan guarantees and technical assistance to support essential services in rural areas including water, electric, and communications infrastructure.
- National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
NRWA is a national network of non-profit organizations that:- Trains, supports, and promotes the water and wastewater professionals that serve rural and small communities across the U.S. and
- Provides training and technical assistance through 49 affiliated State Rural Water Associations on operating, managing, and financing water and wastewater utilities.
- Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
RCAP is a national network of non-profit organizations that:- Helps rural and small communities throughout the U.S. access safe drinking water and sanitary wastewater disposal and
- Provides training and technical assistance through six regional organizations on financing, managing, and operating water and wastewater systems.
Financial Tools
Water and wastewater infrastructure is a crucial yet expensive investment. Effective management requires financing and pricing strategies that cover the cost of providing services, while managing debt and ensuring that services remain affordable. EPA resources include:
- Infrastructure Financing and the Price of Water Services provides information for utilities on various financial topics.
- Pricing Resources includes various guides, tools, and case studies on pricing for water services.
- Financing Alternatives Comparison Tool (FACT) helps identify the most cost-effective method to fund a wastewater or drinking water management project.
- Guidebook of Financial Tools: Paying for Environmental Systems provides information on approximately 340 financial tools that include traditional means of raising revenue, borrowing capital, enhancing credit, creating public-private partnerships, and providing technical assistance.
The Environmental Finance Center Network and other technical assistance providers offer a wide variety of financial tools for water and wastewater utilities, including tools for rate setting and affordability.
- Affordability Tools: These tools assess the affordability of a utility’s water and wastewater services for their customers. There are also tools to assess the cost of implementing a customer assistance program in areas with affordability issues.
- Rate Setting Tools: These tools help set water or wastewater rates by projecting the utility's expenses, revenues, and fund balance for the next few years. They can help determine if the utility needs to adjust rates to achieve financial sustainability.
These financial tools can be found at: