The mission of the Small Community Utilities Focus Group of the VWEA | VA AWWA Utility Management Committee is to promote communication and support of AWWA, WEF, VA AWWA, and VWEA resources to utilities serving communities of less than 10,000 people.
- AWWA provides resources for Small Systems here at https://www.awwa.org/Professional-Development/Small-Systems including free small systems training, online courses, SDWA Compliance training, optimization, and funding training, and applicable books from the AWWA Bookstore, and featured utility jobs.
- The OneAWWA Operator's Scholarship provides funding to operators that are looking to advance their education. Scholarship award funds can be used for certification/licensure, two- or four-year water-related associate (or other) degrees, technical school programs, professional training programs, books and manuals, and operator related conferences. Small utilities receive preference in the One AWWA Operator’s Scholarship selection! Applications are due in May of each year. https://vaawwa.org/page/scholarships
- Funding resources are made available through various partners within Virginia. Detailed information, including recorded presentations, presentation slides, contact information, and weblinks can be found on our Funding Opportunities for Small Water Systems Resource page.
- The VA AWWA Plant Operations Committee offers a grant to Small Systems for water plant operators wanting to attend any AWWA training and will cover registration costs. Apply here: https://vaawwa.org/page/plant-operations
- The Water Reach Committee’s mission is to ensure safe drinking water and proper sanitation to communities throughout Virginia. The Water Reach Committee’s volunteers have supported small communities such as Tangier Island, the Town of Mineral, and others to assist with funding searches, providing fundraising support, owner agent services, and permit support. The Water Reach Silent Auction at the 2023 WaterJAM raised over $1,800 to support small systems!
- The Community Engineering Corps https://www.communityengineeringcorps.org/ works with communities to improve local infrastructure by providing pro-bono engineering and technical solutions to the communities that need it most.
- Water JAM is the biggest event of the year for the water, wastewater, and stormwater community in Virginia! Each year, VA AWWA’s Membership Engagement Committee awards grants to small utility employees to offset the cost of attending the conference. The grant monies are to be used for travel, lodging, and conference-related expenses only. The purpose of the grant is to increase the involvement of small water systems and encourage participation by individuals who may not otherwise have been able to attend. For more information or application forms, please contact Geneva Hudgins, (434-386-3190 or Geneva.Hudgins@vaawwa.org). Applications are due in August of each year.
- The Virginia Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (VA WARN) is a Mutual Aid Response Network for Water and Wastewater Systems. The mission of VA WARN is to provide a method whereby Virginia water and wastewater utilities that have sustained damages from natural or manmade events could obtain emergency assistance in the form of personnel, equipment, materials, and other associated services as necessary from other water and wastewater utilities. The objective is to provide rapid, short-term deployment of emergency services to restore the critical operations of the impacted utility. There are over 20 small community utilities that are members of WARN! See the benefits for your utility!
- SERCAP's dedicated Technical Assistance Providers (TAPs) administer long-term Technical Assistance (TA) to Water/Wastewater Utilities, Rural Communities, Public Service Authorities, and Planning District Commissions in order to improve compliance, efficiency, capacity, and long-term sustainability. Navigate to their page here.
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