WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced a national partnership to protect Americans’ health by improving rural drinking water and wastewater systems. Nationwide, small water and sewage treatment facilities with limited funding and resources face challenges due to rising costs and aging equipment and pipes. The agreement will send federal resources to support communities that need assistance and promote job training to help put people to work while addressing the growing workforce shortage in the water industry.

Under the agreement, EPA and USDA will work together to promote jobs by targeting specific audiences, providing training for new water careers, and coordinating outreach efforts that will bring greater public visibility to the workforce needs of the industry, and develop a new generation of trained water professionals. EPA and USDA will also facilitate the exchange of successful recruitment and training strategies among stakeholders including states and water industries.

The agencies will also help rural utilities improve current operations and encourage development of long-term water quality improvement plans. The plans will include developing sustainable management practices to cut costs and improve performance.

More about the EPA-USDA agreement is available at http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/partners.cfm#moa.

More about EPA’s programs and tools for small water systems is available at http://water.epa.gov/type/drink/pws/smallsystems/index.cfm.

More about USDA’s Water and Environmental Programs for rural communities is available at http://www.rurdev.usda.gov/UWEP_HomePage.html.