This workshop is geared towards small water and wastewater systems and finance officers, mayors, city council members, and water/wastewater management are all encouraged to attend. If your city/system is interested in attending, please register using the form to the right. If you have questions, please call the SDARWS Madison office at 605-556-7219, or Wastewater Technician Danny Ayers at 605-291-2299.

ABOUT THIS SEMINAR

SDARWS is hosting a Sustainable Management of Rural and Small Systems Workshop on May 13th via Zoom. At this workshop, participants are introduced to the ten key management areas for small and rural water and wastewater systems. Participants will be asked to conduct a short self-assessment of their operations in relation to the management areas and identify management improvement opportunities at their systems based on the assessment. The workshop further provides an opportunity for participants to share experiences from their systems to better understand how to implement improvements and have a basis for working with staff and community members to operate more effectively. Resources will be made available to participants to help them implement the improvements identified during the assessment.

By making improvements in any of the ten key management areas through methods outlined in the Workshop in a Box and the Guidebook, at a pace consistent with their most pressing challenges, systems will be able to deliver increasingly efficient, higher-quality services.

Participants will conduct a guided self-assessment of their system and identify areas for improvement that are critical to success at your utility. This self-assessment will help you prioritize actions when resources are limited. You will also learn from other utilities who have faced similar challenges.

The workshop focuses on ten key management areas of effectively managed utilities, which make up a framework for a complete and well-rounded management approach. By making operational improvements in any of these areas, your utility will be able to deliver increasingly efficient, high quality services to your community.

These workshops will help utilities address a full range of challenges and improve the management of their operations and infrastructure:

• How to deliver increasingly efficient, and high quality services
• How to improve long-term sustainability and increase resiliency
• How to use the Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management to make improvements at your system

RESOURCES COVERED AT THE WORKSHOP

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have worked with utilities, water associations, and technical assistance providers to create materials that help utilities address challenges and capture improvement opportunities.  These materials include the Rural and Small Systems Guidebook to Sustainable Utility Management and the Workshop in a Box. You can find these resources on USDA and EPA’s websites, and you can access them through your local technical assistance providers.