Project History Details

RCAC provides assistance to small municipal and nonprofit water systems, wastewater systems and solid waste management programs in 13 western states. We build local community capacity through training and technical assistance and our established network to access resources. Our services are directed to low-income communities, nonprofit organizations and small water and waste systems that need help to achieve compliance with state and federal regulations. In most cases, our assistance is offered at no charge – covered by state and federal contracts.

As a member of Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)– a well-established environmental network for rural communities – RCAC focuses on three areas to help maintain safe, reliable drinking water, wastewater and solid waste systems:

Technical - the staffing, operations and basic infrastructure of water and waste systems

Managerial – management of the water and waste systems that includes: nonprofit board members, city and town councils, staff that assist utility boards

Financial – the financial management of the water and waste utility, financial records, procedures, managing critical assets

RCAC assists rural communities to build, improve, manage, operate, or finance drinking water, wastewater or solid waste systems. RCAC has helped rural communities access millions of dollars in grants and loans and trained thousands of individuals through customized on-site technical assistance and workshops.

We serve Native groups, primarily through our tribal circuit rider program in California and Arizona, and also through programs in New Mexico and Utah. RCAC Native American services in water and waste have been a major focus of RCAC's activities since its inception.

In 2014, in partnership with The California Endowment and local community organizations, RCAC launched the Agua4All campaign to address the lack of access to safe drinking water in many rural communities in California. In some areas, aging utility systems are the problem; in others, public water systems were never built in the first place.

Agua4All is an innovative program that seeks to increase access to and consumption of clean drinking water in California. Through the campaign, RCAC is installing water bottle filling stations in schools and other public places and providing reusable water bottles to students. Where necessary, the water dispensers will also provide water treatment to filter out arsenic and other contaminants so that residents will finally have access to potable water.

https://vimeo.com/104725922

Total WASH Budget

$500,000 - 999,999