Tribal Utility News from WaterOperator.org

Newsletter #35 for December 2016

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ITCA Offers Tribal Water and Wastewater Technical Assistance to Tribal Communities

The Inter Tribal Council of Arizona (ITCA) Tribal Water System Program provides technical assistance to tribes in order to assist with technical, managerial, and financial capacity (TMF), as well as water & wastewater utility sustainability. The program partners with federal agencies and other organizations to assure service availability for Tribal Water Utility operators and managers.

ITCA staff can assist utility decision makers and staff with a wide range of technical, managerial, and financial issues relating to operation of community water and wastewater systems.

Examples of Technical Assistance Services Offered:

• SDWA & CWA Compliance Monitoring
• Monitoring Frequency Voucher Applications
• Pumps, Motors, & Controls
• System Capacity and Sustainability
• System Evaluation – Sanitary Survey Preparation
• Sampling, Monitoring, and Laboratory Testing
• Grant and Loan Applications
• Capital Improvement Plans & Asset Management
• Budgets, Rates, and Reserves
• Emergency Response Planning
• Utility Ordinances & Policies
• Vulnerability Assessment/Source Water Protection
• Wastewater Treatment & Collections
• Drinking Water Treatment and Distribution

Assistance can involve onsite visits, or it can be accomplished through phone or email communication. Please see the ITCA Tribal Water Systems Technical Assistance Request Form here. Want to learn more? Click here.

USDA Technical Assistance & Training Grant Program

The Water & Waste Disposal Technical Assistance & Training Grants from the USDA help qualified, non-profits provide technical assistance and training to (a) identify and evaluate solutions to water and waste problems; (b) assist applicants in preparing applications for water and waste disposal loans/grants; and (c) assist associations in improving operation and maintenance of existing water and waste facilities in eligible rural areas. The deadline is December 31, 2016. For more information click here.

EPA Clean Water Act Section 319 Grant Program

EPA is soliciting proposals from eligible tribes and intertribal consortia to develop and/or implement watershed-based plans and other on-the-ground projects that will result in significant steps towards solving NPS impairments on a watershed-wide basis.

Important dates for the FY2017 competitive grant period:

December 21, 2016 2-3:00pm Eastern: Competitive RFP information session/webinar Click here to register.
January 6, 2017 Deadline for Tribes to submit questions about the RFP
January 25, 2017 (11:59pm Eastern) Final Deadline for proposals

Click here for more information.

BLM Developing New Land Use Plans in Alaska - Call for Involvement

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is developing Resource Management Plans (RMP) that will determine how BLM manages its public lands for the next 15-20 years. Tanana Chiefs Conference participation in the planning process can have a big impact on the outcome of the RMPs. Click here to learn more.

Events for Tribal Water Systems

ICDBG Implementation Training
Thursday, December 15 | Denver, Colorado
Hosted by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

This Implementation Training will provide grantees with information on preparing environmental reviews, reporting, and revising implementation plans and/or scopes of work. Hands-on activities will be provided to give grantees the opportunity to practice preparing Federal Financial Reports (SF-425s), Section 3 reports, Minority Business Enterprise reports, and Annual Status and Evaluation Reports.These reports are all required for the implementation of the ICDBG program. For eligible applicants, including Indian Tribes and Alaska Native communities, that have received an ICDBG award in the last five years. | Click here for more information.

Establishing Baseline Water Quality Standards for Indian Reservations
Thursday, December 15 at 12:00 pm Pacific
Hosted by the United States Environmental Protection Agency

EPA is conducting this webinar as part of the 90-day public notice period for the Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM): Federal Baseline Water Quality Standards for Indian Reservations. EPA is considering establishing federal baseline water quality standards (WQS) for certain Indian reservation waters to close a long-standing gap in coverage of Clean Water Act protections. | Click here for more information.

Principles of GIS
Monday, January 9 - Thursday, January 12 | Tecumseh, Oklahoma
Hosted by the Bureau of Indian Affairs

The Branch of Geospatial Support provides GIS training to BIA offices and employees of Federally Recognized Tribes. | Click here for more information.

Want to find additional training opportunities for operators,
including events in your area?

Search the Training Calendar

Featured Resource

Drinking Water Mapping App to Protect Source Water
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

DWMAPS can provide drinking water professionals, Source Water Collaboratives, watershed groups, and others with information to update source water assessments and prioritize source water protection measures in any location or watershed in the country. Click here to download.

Have a different question?
You can find thousands of helpful resources in our database.

Search the Document Database

In the News

With Pipeline Losing $20 Million a Week, DAPL Battle Moves to Court
Lawyers for Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), the builders of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), pressed the company's case for federal courts to allow it to finish the job and drill under Lake Oahe in a hearing on Friday, December 9.

Steps Being Taken to Get Potable Water to Salish Kootenai Housing Authority Residents
Since a Dixon Agency Community well tested positive for high levels of iron and arsenic, access to clean water has been a challenge.

Water Resources Development Act Contains Key Provisions for Indian Country
Congress has passed WIIN (Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act), the legislation vehicle for the Water Resources Development Act, thus helping protect native communities from flooding, aging irrigation systems as well as clarifying water rights and facilitating tribal trusts. It is now in the consideration process between the Senate and the House.

Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Spending $6 Millions to Bring Six Wastewater Facilities into Compliance
The Navajo Tribal Utility Authority has agreed to bring six wastewater treatment facilities into compliance with the federal and Navajo laws in separate agreements with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation EPA.

E PA, BIA, and Choctaw Nation Celebrate Safer Drinking Water at Jones Academy
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Choctaw Nation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) recognized Jones Academy in Hartshorne, Oklahoma for successfully addressing water quality challenges at the school. The project supported EPA's EJ 2020 action plan, which is the five-year plan for achieving environmental justice goals.

San Carlos Apache Tribe & Utility Authority to Bring 9 Drinking Water Facilities into Compliance
The San Carlos Apache Tribe and the San Carlos Apache Tribal Utility Authority have agreed to bring nine of their drinking water systems into compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act as part of a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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