Articles Available for Your Publication

These products are available free to download for educational and non-profit use, such as reprinting in your newsletter or magazine, distributing via email or Internet, or using in training, meetings, or presentations. For each product, please acknowledge the source; for each article, please acknowledge the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP), the National Environmental Services Center (NESC), and the article author(s).

We would appreciate hearing about how you use this information. Please contact:

Sandra Fallon, NESC Training Specialist
(phone) 1-800-624-8301 ext. 5582 or (e-mail) sfallon@mail.wvu.edu

 

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September 2011—Making Sure It All Adds Up: Financial Accounting for Small Water and Wastewater Systems.
Describes the importance of using sound financial accounting practices to manage and maintain water and wastewater systems, and
offers 10 recommendations for improving your financial management approach.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/FinancialAccounting.cfm ]

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September 2011—Communities, Water Sources and Potential Impacts of Shale Gas Development.

Describes the challenges presented by shale gas development activities and offers suggestions for protecting your community and water sources from potential negative impacts.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/ShaleGas.cfm ]

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June 2011—Planning Ahead Improves Water and Wastewater Service.
Planning ahead can help you implement practices that save money.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/PlanningAhead.cfm ]

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June 2011—Roadmap to the Future: Capital Improvements Planning for Small Water Systems.
Explains how to develop a capital improvements plan for your water or wastewater system, and why it’s important.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/roadmap_future_CIP.cfm ]

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September 2010—"Plan to Protect Source Water: Why Are Source Water Protection Plans Important?"
Provides a brief overview of water pollution and water use problems in the U.S., discusses how we currently manage these problems, and offers strategies local leaders can use to protect their drinking water sources.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/plan_protect_drinking_water.cfm ]

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August 2010—"Setting Water and Sewer Rates to Sustain These Essential Services"
This article provides a brief overview about water and sewer rates in rural and small systems, and discusses basic rate structures, resources for conducting rate studies and setting rates, and the importance of educating customers about the true costs of services.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/setting_rates.cfm ]

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August 2010—"Utilities Help Each Other During Emergencies—Have your water and wastewater systems signed up?"
Provides information about the Water/Wastewater Agency Response Network (WARN), a utilities-helping-utilities program that uses mutual aid and assistance agreements, which are established and signed prior to a disaster, incident, or emergency, to help impacted member utilities quickly obtain resources such as personnel, equipment, materials, and related services from utility signatories to the WARN agreement.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/WARN.cfm ]

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Winter 2009—"Water and Energy: An Uncertain Future, A Monumental Challenge"
Discusses the interdependencies between water and energy, explains how one impacts the other, and identifies conservation, efficiency, and management strategies that can help address the increasing demands on these resources. This article originally appeared in the Winter 2009 issue of On Tap magazine, which features drinking water news and information for the nation's small communities, www.nesc.wvu.edu/ontap.cfm.

[ Download PDF File ]

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May 2009—"Drugs in our waterways: What can community leaders do to slow the flow?"
Identifies practical steps every community can take to keep pharmaceuticals and personal care products out of local waterways.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/drugs_in_water.cfm

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September 2009—"Managing Aging Water Infrastructure Assets: Planning Ahead Saves Time and Money"
Discusses proactive strategies for overseeing or managing the repair, rehabilitation, replacement, and financing of aging water and wastewater infrastructure.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/aging_infrastructure.cfm

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September 2009—"Are You Prepared to Handle Labor Shortages in Your Water Utilities?"
Explains the pending shortages in the water and wastewater operator workforce and offers ideas for retaining or replacing these workers and capturing the knowledge and experience they have.

[ Download Word Document ] or web page: www.nesc.wvu.edu/waterwedrink/articles/utility_labor_shortages.cfm

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Spring/Summer 2008—"Save the Source, Save. Some Money"
By Kathy Jesperson, NESC Editor. Contamination not only threatens human health, it can jeopardize a community's ecology and economy. Given these realities, it only makes sense to protect the source.

[ Download PDF File ]