The USDA Rural Development Water and Environmental Program (USDA WEP) has consistently supported rural communities in completing necessary upgrades to their water and wastewater facilities.

Today’s Congressional policies and funding decisions are jeopardizing communities in rural America. Budget cuts being discussed in Congress will leave the USDA WEP unable to accomplish its mission to support water and wastewater systems across the nation. The USDA WEP is instrumental in helping rural America increase economic opportunities, protect public health, maintain affordable water access, and ensure their communities are sustainable. This will also affect the funding the Florida Rural Water Association receives for its technical service programs.

Rural Development will continue to play a vital role in modernizing, preserving, and protecting rural America’s infrastructure and public health. You can help secure its future today by signing the pledge and writing to your Congressional representatives today.

Please visit https://www.ruralwaterstrong.org/pledge and have your board members, operators, and/or system managers complete the Pledge Form.



Also, please contact your U.S. Congressmen and let them know how important the USDA WEP is to your system. You can use the example letter by clicking here to write to your Congressmen.

Providing adequate support and resources necessary to protect and enhance the environment, public health, sustainability of utilities, and economic vitality of rural America with clean, affordable, and safe water services is a primary responsibility for our federal elected officials.

If you have any questions, or need any assistance, please contact FRWA at frwa@frwa.net or call 850.668.2746.

Florida - Thursday July 4, 2024: The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is accepting grant applications through the Resilient Florida Program for projects to prepare Florida communities for the impacts of flooding and storm surge. The online grant application portal opened, July 1, 2024, and remains open through Sept. 1, 2024.

Planning Grants

• Counties and municipalities are eligible for fully-funded planning grants to complete resilience planning efforts, including vulnerability assessments.
• Water management districts are also eligible to receive planning grants to assist the Florida Flood Hub for Applied Science and Innovation address gaps in available data.

Implementation Grants

• Counties, municipalities and qualified special districts are eligible to apply for infrastructure projects to address risks identified in a local government vulnerability assessment.
• Water management districts, drainage districts, erosion control districts, flood control districts and regional water supply authorities can propose projects that mitigate resilience related risks on water supplies or water resources of the state.
• Eligible applicants in either category may receive 50% cost-share funding assistance to implement projects for adaptation and mitigation. Up to 100% cost-share funding assistance may be requested for eligible financially disadvantaged small communities.

DEP will hold office hours throughout the state during the application period to provide in-person resources and application assistance.

For more information, please click here.

This year's Annual Conference is well on it's way to being the most successful in FRWA's forty-five year history. Don't miss this opportunity to bring your family and let them play while you learn! You can choose from over forty topics including a new "Help Session" where FRWA employees will be available to offer one-on-one advice on issues confronting your system. For a complete agenda, click here.

For more Conference information and to register click here.

422 N Atlantic Ave

Daytona Beach FL 32118

Daytona Grande – Oceanfront Resort

Reservations 386.271.7979/click here

The Daytona Beach Hilton is sold out of rooms for the 2024 FRWA Annual Conference on July 29-31. To assist those that have not secured a room for the Conference, we negotiated with the Daytona Grande and secured the low price of $160 for city view rooms at the Daytona Grande Oceanfront Hotel. The price (like the Hilton) was negotiated to waive the resort fee ($30) and also entitles guests to a $10 parking fee in the enclosed parking garage across the street from the facility.

The facility is just three years old and is located within walking distance of the Hilton (.3 mile/7 minute walk).

To book your room online now, click here or call 386.271.7979 and mention that you are members of the FRWA Annual Meeting. Click here for more information on the Daytona Grande.

Putting together ALL the financial and management services you need in one place – FRWA. Already well known for providing high quality technical assistance and training to member water and wastewater systems, we also provide financial and management assistance as a membership benefit.

Revenue Requirements & Rate Analysis FRWA’s financial team are experts in providing analysis of revenue requirements and determining whether your utility user rates are adequate to meet operational expenses. We recommend rational and evenhanded rates to spread costs appropriately to customers while encouraging residential and commercial growth. 

Cost of Service A Cost of Service study is a comprehensive evaluation of the true and proposed costs associated with providing drinking water and/or wastewater services to your customers. Cost based rates can only be achieved through a systematic approach to determining cost (now and future). 

Water Audits & Infiltration/Inflow Water Audits provide analysis of water losses and unaccounted-for-water resulting in lost revenues. Infiltration & Inflow Wastewater Studies quantify “clear water” that may enter a sewage collection system under wet weather or wet soil conditions.

Utility Management Training Sessions Utility Management and Board Training is available at your finger tips from experienced and effective professionals. Whether the sessions are formal or individual we are always available to help you run your system more effectively and efficiently.

Finance Programs, Grants, Loans & etc. We help you find dependable sources for grants and loans for your projects -- short-term, interim and long-term financing options.

Interim Finance Program Interim Loans are available for construction projects with USDA-RD long-term financing takeouts or SRF Authorization to Incur Costs Letter.

Regulatory Updates & Assistance FRWA closely monitors and is actively involved with legislative and regulatory activities. We co-sponsor regulatory updates through annual Focus-on-Change Sessions in coordination with the Department of Environmental Protection. FRWA frequently gets involved with clarification and interpretation of rules with DEP District and Local County Health Department offices.

Long Range Planning / Capacity Analysis FRWA’s team can assist you with the evaluation of remaining treatment capacity as a management tool to address timing of future expansions, regulatory compliance, impact fees, planning, funding, engineering design, permitting and construction. 

Utility Operation / Compliance Assistance We provide assistance with a myriad of operational concerns to help you stay effective:

•  Customer Relations / Services
•  Public Notices / Consumer Confidence Reports
•  Operation & Maintenance Manuals
•  Emergency Response Planning
•  DEP Rule Compliance Issues 

For information on any of the topics listed above, please contact frwa@frwa.net of call 850.668.2746.

NATIONAL NEWS

Special Notice of Dude Products Flushable Wipes Settlement Federal judge issues preliminary approval to wipes-related settlement. more

Microgrids and DERs for Water and Wastewater Utilities 07/25/24/2:00 PM EDT A microgrid is a group of interconnected loads and distributed energy sources (DERs) that acts as a single controllable entity with respect to the power grid. more

Additional Funding to Help Low-Income Households Pay Water and Sewer Bills Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has announced that the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) has received an additional $577,480 of federal Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) funds to assist 895 more customers in paying their water and sewer utility bills. more

EPA: Another Strike Against PFAS Are you prepared to comply with more restrictions on chemicals of concern? A legal expert also has advice on what to say to consumers. more

Cutting-Edge Technology Detects Nanoplastics In Water — Instantly A McGill-led research team has developed the first real-time, on-site technology capable of detecting and deciphering nanoplastics from all other particles in water, a capacity akin to being able to find a needle in a haystack within milliseconds. more

Cloud-Based SCADA Systems - Value, Functionality, Security, Flexibility: The Best Option for Small Rural Systems/Thu, Aug 8, 2024 3:00 PM - 4:00 PM EDT Cloud-Based SCADA systems can be used for any kind of infrastructure: water, wastewater, transportation, industrial and/or agricultural. A good system has high security, two-way communications, is flexible, and is low cost. It can integrate with any other data management system.  more

EPA Selects Educational Organizations To Receive Over $3.6M To Support Environmental Projects Nationwide The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the selection of 38 organizations to receive over $3.6M in funding for projects under the Environmental Education Grants Program. more

Missouri American Water Files Rate Request Driven By $1.5B In Water And Wastewater System Investments Missouri American Water filed a request today with the Missouri Public Service Commission (MoPSC) reflecting $1.5 billion in water and wastewater system investments completed and planned from January 2023 to May 2026. more

California Drinking Water Map Shows Facilities at Risk of Failing - Newsweek  Water systems located in nearly every single California county are at risk of failing, according to a map created by Newsweek using data from the California State Water Resources Control Board. more

Drinking Water System Resilience July 30, 2024 l 1:00 p.m. CT EPA will use your registration information solely for this event and for invitations to future events. We will not share your information with any third party. more

Debate flares over how quickly to replace many lead service lines - WUSF With the Environmental Protection Agency’s latest — and strictest — plan to minimize the risk of Americans drinking lead-contaminated water on the horizon, the debate over whether the agency’s proposed rules go too far or not nearly far enough is heating up. more

Researchers Show Impact Of COVID-19 On Drinking Water Quality A research team from Constructor University, led by geochemist and geoscientist Prof. Dr. Michael Bau, and including his former students Lea Krohn, Franziska Klimpel and Pauline Béziat, has presented a new study on the effects of COVID-19 and climate change on wastewater-derived substances in urban drinking water in Berlin, Germany. more

The Timing Of Rainfall Could Help Predict Floods With record rainfall projected to continue into the future, many worry extreme flooding will follow suit. But a new CIRES-led study published today in Science of the Total Environment found an increase in precipitation alone won’t necessarily increase disastrous flooding — instead, flood risk depends on how many days have passed between storms. more

EPA loses ground in Supreme Court decisions - EHN - Environmental Health News  The Supreme Court has limited the EPA's authority to control pollution, signaling more challenges ahead for the agency. more

Implications of Recent Supreme Court Decisions on Administrative, Environmental, and Natural Resource Law | NatLawReview.com The final days of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 term saw the release of several decisions that may – or may not, depending on one’s perspective and desired strategy – hold significant implications for administrative law practice as well as the interpretation and enforcement of environmental and natural resource law (among other areas of law). more

Bill Requiring Robust Study Of Microplastics In Drinking Water Passes Assembly Committee SB 1147, authored by Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D – Burbank), passed the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. The bill requires the study of the health impacts of microplastics in drinking water. more

Superfund enforcement of PFAS started Monday. Where does waste and recycling go from here here? While the EPA has provided assurances certain waste and recycling facilities won’t be targeted, concerns about cost remain. more

AMWA Comments On DHS' Proposed Cyber Reporting Rule Last week, AMWA submitted joint comments in response to DHS Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on its “Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act (CIRCIA) Reporting Requirements.”  more

EPA pauses toxics-free label expansion, citing budget cuts - E&E News by POLITICO EPA is no longer looking to expand its popular, voluntary toxic-free labeling program due to budget cuts. more

Operator Apprenticeships: Three Perspectives on Value Hiring and retaining excellent operators remains a challenge for drinking water and clean-water utilities. An excellent way to meet it is through registered apprenticeships. more

Phosphorus Removal Options Explored In Collaborative Trials Alternative approaches to phosphorus removal at rural wastewater treatment works are being explored in an innovation project led by United Utilities. more

Rural Water Success Story: Cherokee Hills Utility District Road to Success It’s been a long road to success, but more than 330 customers of the Cherokee Hills Utility District, will soon have something to celebrate. more

EPA Announces $250,000 to Winners of Small Communities - Big Challenges Prize Competition The winners, representing local governments across five states, had innovative and unique strategies for engaging with their rural communities to identify environmental and public health needs of importance to the community. more

AMWA-AWWA Statement On PFAS Legal Filing “AWWA and AMWA share the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s goal of protecting people from potentially harmful levels of PFAS in drinking water. more 

President's Investing in America Agenda Delivers More Than $142M To Bolster Resilience To Drought And Boost Water Supplies The selected projects are expected to provide about 40,000 acre-feet of annual recycled water, enough to support more than 160,000 people a year. more

Arkansas: $60M Announced to Address Statewide Water Needs Funds include $55M for water, wastewater, stormwater projects and $5M for Arkansas Rural Water Association. more

Sen. Cruz Leads Senate Republican Colleagues in Urging EPA to Reject California'... The new restriction would significantly burden commerce and threatens one of America’s cleanest and most efficient modes of transportation—rail. more

Changing Water Conservation Attitudes Positively Impacts Water Availability The increased demand for clean water and its limited supply has made water management one of the most pressing challenges facing society today. more

The enduring threat of PFAS: a water expert's perspective PFAS filtration will challenge water utilities budgets. The U.S. EPA annual compliance cost estimates are drastically lower than other cost estimate studies. more

STATE NEWS

Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority moves forward with PFAS treatment system | WaterWorld  The Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority (FKAA) announced on July 9, 2024, that they will be moving forward with efforts to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) newly established National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) for PFAS. more

Grants could ease pain of costly septic conversion in Lake Panasoffkee | Villages News Lake Panasoffkee residents and Sumter County officials may find out next month whether grants are available to help fund a costly centralized sewer system in the community. more

New to flood insurance? Some say it's becoming 'almost completely unaffordable' | WPTV Thousands are now officially in a flood zone according to new FEMA maps. Those affected will have a deadline of Dec. 20 to find flood insurance coverage. more

First major feature for Western Everglades Restoration Project | WINK  The project is a first of its kind and will use 3 different culverts to help with water restoration and water quality. more

2024 hurricane season outlook just grew bigger: 25 named storms now expected by experts Hurricane Beryl's deadly, record-breaking rampage is all but over, but forecasters say the storm is confirming their fears about a dangerous hurricane season. more

A radioactive 'Fountain of Youth' stands in this Florida city. But is it safe to drink?  Those who venture along the west coast of Florida might find themselves in the small beach town of Punta Gorda, nearly two hours south of Tampa. more

Suwannee River Water Management District receives national award | Madison County Carrier The SRWMD received the 2024 Outreach Award last week from the Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) for its work on the Santa Fe Flood Risk review. more

Wastewater overflow in Charlotte caused by grease blockage - MSN Charlotte Water crews responded to the overflow that happened near Woodleigh Oaks Drive. The overflow was caused by a grease blockage, according to crews. more

Six Most Devastating Hurricanes in South Florida History | Miami New Times Back in May, the good folks at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned us that Florida's 2024 hurricane season could be among the most active ever. more

Water Restrictions Extended in Tampa  As the Tampa Bay region continues to experience drier-than-normal weather conditions, residents will continue to only be allowed to irrigate their lawns once-a-week. The Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) is extending the watering restrictions in place for Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas Counties until September 1, 2024. more

Tailgating event to explain possible water outages coming to patio villas | Villages News A tailgating event has been scheduled for residents to explain a water line replacement project that will include possible water outages for patio villa owners. more

Florida City Suffering Drinking Water Shortage - MSN This is because of the "impacts of the lack of seasonal rainfall and record-high temperatures," the West Palm Beach Utilities Department said in a statement on Wednesday. more

Additional Funding to Help Low-Income Households Pay Water and Sewer Bills  The Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) has recently partnered with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) and Promise to introduce the federally funded Florida Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) to customers in our County. more

Students at Clearwater Central Catholic HS help bring clean drinking water to villages in Tanzania  This summer, six students from Clearwater Central Catholic High School embarked on a trip of a lifetime to Tanzania to fulfill a mission that had been years in the making—to bring fresh drinking water to villages in need. more

Florida considers adding more nuclear power plants, first expansion in decades | Tampa Nuclear plants generate about 13 percent of Florida’s electricity, according to a state House analysis. more

New FEMA flood maps stand to place thousands more Palm Beach County residents in high-risk zones | WPTV Palm Beach County officials are looking for solutions for homeowners as new FEMA flood maps may force thousands to buy federal flood insurance. more

Bradenton Beach sewer improvements near completion | Your Observer About one mile of Gulf Drive in Bradenton Beach — from 6th Street South to 13th Street South — was recently repaved as the Bradenton Beach Sewer Improvements project nears completion. more

Staying hydrated in the heat is more than just drinking water - ClickOrlando.com Imagine you’re gearing up for a typical summer day out in the Florida sun. As you pack your bag, make sure to toss in a good couple of liters of water — not just a small sports bottle. more

Titusville pilot flies water purifiers to areas devastated by Hurricane Beryl - ClickOrlando.com Joe Burston’s Air Mobile Ministries has brought clean drinking water to over 50 countries since 1978. more

Tap Water – An Essential Part of a Hurricane Preparedness Plan - OCFL Newsroom In the days leading up to a major storm, stores may scramble to meet the demand for bottled water. While bottled water is convenient, Orange County Utilities’ customers already have a reliable source: the tap. more

Florida Keys Stewardship Grant Opportunity Added to DEP's Water Quality Protection Grant Portal This grant is available to local governments located in the Florida Keys Area of Critical State Concern or the City of Key West Area of Critical State Concern. more

Setting the PACE: New legislation makes a good thing better - Florida Politics When was the last time you heard of a business coalition siding with local government entities pushing for tighter regulations on that business’s industry? more

Ban On Intentional Balloon Releases Will Take Effect In Florida | WUSF Sea turtles, marine birds and children under 7 will be protected under a new Florida law that bans the intentional release of balloons. more

Reclaimed Water Might Be An Option For More Homes And Businesses - Osprey Observer  As the population of Hillsborough County continues to grow, meeting the water needs of residents and businesses becomes an ongoing challenge which is being met through a variety of methods, such as mandated restrictions and other conservation methods, including the use of reclaimed water. more

Florida investing $1.5B in natural resources under new state budget - WCJB Florida is preparing to spend billions of dollars on the state’s natural resources. Starting with the new budget next week, the state will be spending $1.5 billion to protect water resources across the state. more

July 8, 1908: Municipal Journal and Engineer article. Roanoke’s Public Utilities. “Roanoke, VA, is what is known as a railroad town, being largely populated by employees of the Norfolk and Western Railroad, which has its general offices and shops located there. During the 25 years of its history it has grown to a population of about 32,000. It is a beautiful and well-kept city, which is probably largely due to the fact that about 90 per cent of the homes are owned by their occupants.

One of the most interesting features of the city is its water supply, which is owned by a private company. The water is furnished by a single mammoth spring which gushes from the foot of Mill Mountain. The water is clear, cold and pure, and is very satisfactory for drinking purposes, although not entirely so for manufacturing uses. The spring furnishes about five million gallons of water per day, which is about double the amount now being used. It discharges into a large concrete-lined well or pond, the overflow from which forms a small stream. A reservoir is located on the side of the mountain 175 feet above the city. Pumps draw the water from the pond at the spring and force it into a main, one end of which leads to the reservoir and the other to the city; the pumping being thus on the direct-indirect system.”

FLORIDA RURAL WATER ASSOCIATION | http://www.frwa.net

2970 Wellington Circle | Tallahassee FL 32309

850.668.2746 | Contact Us