Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Reclamation's Rural Water Supply Program?
- What types of entities are eligible to participate?
- What types of projects are eligible?
- What are the specific types of facilities that may be included in a rural water project?
- Does this program include irrigation water or is it limited to municipal and industrial water uses?
- Does this program affect rural water projects that are already authorized?
- How does this program relate to other Federal, State, and local rural water projects?
- What type of planning assistance is available for rural water projects?
- How much funding is available?
- How will Reclamation select projects for assistance?
- What is the process to apply for financial or technical assistance with an appraisal investigation?
- What is the process to apply for financial or technical assistance with a feasibility study?
- Does an appraisal investigation have to be completed before I can request assistance with a feasibility study?
- What is the process to request Reclamation to review an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study completed without Reclamation assistance?
- What are the requirements for completing an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study under the program?
- Are there cost-benefit criteria for the proposed projects?
- Is construction authorized and paid for by the Federal government?
- Who will hold title to projects constructed as a result of this program?
1. What is Reclamation's Rural Water Program?
This is a new program that Reclamation is developing pursuant to the Rural Water Supply Act of 2006, Public Law 109-451. The Act authorized Reclamation to establish a program to work with rural communities, including tribes, throughout the 17 western states to assess potable water supply needs and to identify options to address those needs through appraisal investigations and feasibility studies. Reclamation is now establishing comprehensive criteria, including prioritization and eligibility criteria, as well as criteria to evaluate appraisal and feasibility studies. Return to the top of the page
2. What types of entities are eligible to participate?
State, regional, or local authorities, Indian tribes or tribal organizations, or other qualifying entities such as water conservation districts, water conservancy districts, or rural water districts or associations may participate in the rural water program.
See § 404.6 of the interim final rule for more information.Return to the top of the page
3. What types of projects are eligible?
The project must be designed to serve a community or group of communities, each of which has a current population of no more than 50,000 inhabitants, which may include Indian tribes and tribal organizations, dispersed home sites, or rural areas with domestic, municipal, and industrial water, including non-commercial livestock watering and non-commercial irrigation of vegetation. In some cases a project may include a community of more than 50,000 inhabitants if that community is a critical partner that substantially contributes to the financial viability of the project.
See §§ 404.7 and 404.8 of the interim final rule for more information.Return to the top of the page
4. What are the specific types of facilities that may be included in a rural water project?
A rural water supply project can include new rural water supply infrastructure and facilities; the improvement or upgrade of existing rural water supply infrastructure and facilities; and the extension of existing rural water supply infrastructure and facilities currently serving individual communities dispersed homesites, rural areas or tribes. More specifically, infrastructure or facilities may include, but is not limited to: Pumps, pipes, wells, surface water intakes and other diversion, transmission, or distribution systems, storage tanks and small impoundments, water treatment facilities for potable water supplies, including desalination facilities, buildings necessary to house equipment and serve as a center for operations, power transmission and related facilities required for the rural water supply project, equipment and management tools for water conservation, groundwater recovery, and water reuse and recycling, associated features to mitigate adverse environmental consequences of a project; and other necessary appurtenances. A rural water supply project may not include: Infrastructure or facilities to deliver water for commercial irrigation and major impoundment structures.
See § 404.9 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
5. Does this program include irrigation water or is it limited to municipal and industrial water uses?
This program addresses water needs for domestic, municipal, and industrial uses. This includes the use of water for incidental noncommercial livestock watering and noncommercial irrigation of vegetation.
The commercial use of water for irrigation is prohibited under this program. Return to the top of the page
6. Does this program affect rural water projects that are already authorized?
No. Reclamation is involved with some rural water projects that have already been authorized for construction by Congress. This program does not affect those ongoing projects. Return to the top of the page
7. How does this program relate to other Federal, State, and local rural water programs?
This program prioritizes projects that meet the needs of communities dispersed across a region or watershed, in order to take advantage of economies of scale and foster opportunities for partnerships. By focusing on projects that address water needs throughout a region or watershed, this program fills a niche that other Federal programs do not meet. Reclamation is finalizing a report to Congress that describes how this program complements and does not duplicate other rural water programs. We hope that this program will be leveraged and closely coordinated with other complementary Federal, state and local programs to further the effective use of public technical and financial resources. Return to the top of the page
8. What type of planning assistance is available for rural projects?
This program provides three different options for eligible non-Federal entities seeking assistance with appraisal and feasibility studies. As an eligible entity, you may:
- Request Reclamation to conduct an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study on your behalf, with your cooperation;
- Request funding through a grant or cooperative agreement to conduct the appraisal or feasibility study yourself, or through a contractor; or,
- Request Reclamation to review and approve an investigation or study completed by you without assistance from Reclamation.
The Act and the rule spell out the process for seeking assistance from Reclamation. See § 404.15 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
9. How much Federal Funding is available?
The availability of funding is dependent upon future annual appropriations from Congress.
For appraisal investigations, Federal funds could be provided for 100 percent of the costs, up to $200,000. Above that level, federal funding is limited to 50 percent.
For feasibility studies, Federal funding for all costs is limited to 50 percent. However, the Federal share may be increased if it is determined there is a financial hardship and the non-Federal entity is unable to pay 50 percent of the feasibility study.
For the fiscal year 2009, $1 million has been requested for this program. However, Congress has not yet enacted the 2009 budget so Reclamation is currently operating under a continuing resolution.
Reclamation cannot provide funding under this program until the FY 2009 budget is adopted and the amount of funding available in FY 2009 will depend on what Congress enacts.
See § 404.30 – 36 of the interim final rule for more information on the cost-sharing provisions.Return to the top of the page
10. How will Reclamation select projects for assistance?
Studies will be selected through a competitive process using a technical committee made up of representatives from across Reclamation. The interim final rule establishes prioritization criteria that will be used to select projects. Criteria include factors such as the need for the project and public policy issues.
See § 440.13 of the interim final rule for more information on the prioritization criteria. Return to the top of the page
11. What is the process to apply for financial or technical assistance with an appraisal investigation?
Reclamation will inform the public of the opportunity to participate in the program by posting a program announcement on grants.gov on an annual basis. In fiscal year 2009, we anticipate posting a program announcement in the spring.
Once a program announcement is posted, there is a two-step process to request funding to conduct an appraisal investigation. First, an interested entity will submit a statement of interest that has a minimal description of its needs, as outlined in § 404.17. Reclamation will review the statement of interest to determine if the proposed study is eligible and if it fits within the program. Second, if the proposed study merits further review, the entity will be requested to submit a full proposal, as described in § 404.20. Reclamation will evaluate the full proposal using the prioritization criteria described in § 404.13.
See §§ 404.15 - 404. 17, and 404.20 - 404.24 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
12. What is the process to apply for financial or technical assistance with a feasibility study?
To apply for assistance with a feasibility study, you may submit a full proposal (as described in
§ 404.20) by the date specified in the program announcement. Reclamation will evaluate the full proposal according to the prioritization criteria described in § 404.13.Return to the top of the page
13. Does an appraisal investigation have to be completed before I can request assistance with a feasibility study?
Yes. Before you can request financial or technical assistance to conduct a feasibility study, you need to complete an appraisal investigation and have it approved by Reclamation. The appraisal investigation can be completed with Reclamation's assistance under the program, or without Reclamation assistance. Under either approach, Reclamation must complete a technical to review of the appraisal investigation to determine whether there are sufficient options identified for meeting the water supply needs that merit the subsequent completion of a feasibility study.
See § 404.19 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
14. What is the process to request Reclamation to review an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study completed without Reclamation's assistance?
You can submit an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study that was not completed under this program to your local Reclamation office, with a cover letter requesting that they review it. Your cover letter needs to address the eligibility criteria in §§ 404.6 and 404.7, and the prioritization criteria in § 404.13. You can make your submittal at any time and do not need to submit a statement of interest in response to a program announcement. Under some circumstances, a feasibility study completed outside of this program may be submitted for Reclamation review without first completing an appraisal investigation, as described in § 404.26,
See § 404.27 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
15. What are the requirements for completing an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study under the program?
The criteria Reclamation will use to evaluate an appraisal investigation are described in § 404.44 and the criteria for evaluating a feasibility study are described in § 404.49. The general process for conducting and reviewing an appraisal investigation under the program are stated in §§ 404.41 to 404.46; the process for conducting and reviewing a feasibility study are described in §§ 404.47 to 404.52. Reclamation is currently developing Directives and Standards to be published in the Reclamation Manual that will explain in more detail the specific requirements for what must be included in an appraisal investigation or a feasibility study.
See §§ 404.44 and 404.49 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
16. Are there cost-benefit criteria for the proposed projects?
Yes, feasibility studies completed under this program must comply with the requirements of the "Economic Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources" (Principles and Guidelines). Projects that are recommended for construction in feasibility reports under this program must have estimated national economic benefits that exceed the costs. Analysis of rural water projects that have been authorized in the past indicates that some have not met the economic feasibility criteria.
See § 404.44.c of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
17. Is construction authorized and paid for by the Federal government?
The Act does not authorize the construction of rural water projects. Under the program, Reclamation is required to submit a feasibility report to Congress assessing the feasibility study and recommending whether the project should be authorized for construction. Reclamation's feasibility report will also make a recommendation regarding how construction costs for the project should be allocated. Under the Act, a minimum of 25 percent of construction costs must be paid by the project sponsor. Additionally, the Act requires Reclamation to determine whether the non-Federal project sponsors should pay an amount above 25 percent, based on the outcome of the "capability-to-pay" analysis that is performed as part of the feasibility study. (See § 404.39 for details on factors for evaluating the capability to pay of the non-Federal entities.)
The project sponsor must pay 100 percent of operation, maintenance, and replacement costs. There are some exceptions for Indian tribes.
See §§ 404.38 and 404.39 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
18. Who will hold title to projects constructed as a result of this program?
The rule and the Act provide that title to projects planned, designed and recommended for construction under this program will be held by the non-Federal project sponsor.
See § 404.54 of the interim final rule for more information. Return to the top of the page
Last updated: 12/4/08