The report highlights 22 recommendations from RCAP that should be integrated into policy decision-making. This research highlights:

• Top-line recommendations that can improve regionalization support at all levels of government;
• Two key takeaways: the need for flexibility and the need for more funding for regionalization effort;
• Provides examples and perspectives from work happening on the ground
• Findings from a compilation of state policies that impact regionalization for drinking water and wastewater systems; information is available in Appendix A

RCAP virtually unveiled this research to over 160 attendees on May 13, 2021. This event highlighted RCAP’s second research report in our series about regionalization, which aims to understand what types of policies at all levels of government have helped or hindered regional solutions for water and wastewater collaboration across the U.S. This event concentrated on our recommendations for state-level decision-makers.

We heard from the experiences of five different states: California, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas, who spoke about what they have put in place to help support the various forms of regionalization, from the informal, like FlaWARN’s effective disaster response and resource sharing to the more formal, like CA’s ability to require physical system consolidation when public health is at risk. The event also included a facilitated panel where attendees learned more about why states have chosen to prioritize regional solutions, the mechanics of how and lessons learned along the way. You can view the event here.

Below are three versions of the report, the full report, the executive summary, and the one-pager. The executive summary provides a condensed overview of the full report and recommendations, and the one-pager provides a high-level overview of the recommendations.

• Full Report
• Executive Summary
• One Pager

The post Regionalization: RCAP’s Recommendations for Water and Wastewater Policy appeared first on RCAP.

• Brief
• Full Report

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Meanwhile, the gap between infrastructure needs and available federal and state supportive resources continues to widen as more systems reach the end of their useful life and the demand for new systems in previously unserved areas escalates. One of the much-touted solutions to this problem is restructuring or combining small water and wastewater systems, creating economies of scale. There are documented benefits to regionalization, but a number of barriers prevent systems from pursuing regional approaches. Federal and state governments should take steps to help eliminate barriers and encourage cooperation and collaboration among water and wastewater providers.

One of the much-touted solutions to this problem is restructuring or combining small water and wastewater systems, creatinge conomies of scale. There are documented benefits to regionalization
but a number of barriers prevent systems from pursuing regional approaches. Federal and state governments should take steps to help eliminate barriers and encourage cooperation and collaboration among water and wastewater providers.

For our Great Lakes Region’s full report, click here.

The post Affordability and Capability Issues of Small Water and Wastewaters Systems: A Case for Regionalization of Small Systems appeared first on RCAP.