The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, Rural Utilities Service, Water and Environmental Programs (WEP) finances water and waste infrastructure in rural communities. These communities are characterized by small and sometimes declining populations with limited financial and technical capacity. They depend on the infrastructure projects funded by WEP to provide basic health and sanitation needs, and due to limited resources, the need for sustainability to protect their investment is acute. By carefully evaluating water and waste projects against prudent financial, environmental and engineering policies, WEP supports projects that have built-in sustainability.
Speaker: Marty Norton, P.E.