Financial Technical Assistance and Tools for Water Infrastructure
The Water Finance Center works with on-the-ground partners to provide financial technical assistance to communities. The Water Finance Center provides:
- Objective financial advice to help communities make informed decisions on funding drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects.
- Access to tools that help utilities make financing decisions that meet their local infrastructure needs.
The Water Finance Center does not fund water infrastructure capital or predevelopment projects.
Learn about EPA's Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) program.
Financial Tools
Water and wastewater infrastructure is a crucial yet expensive investment. Effective management requires financing and pricing strategies that cover the cost of providing services, while managing debt and ensuring that services remain affordable.
- Infrastructure Financing and the Price of Water Services provides information for utilities on various financial topics.
- Water Infrastructure Financial Leadership: Successful Financial Tools for Local Decision Makers - This document highlights successful financial tools to help inform local water infrastructure investment decisions by identifying what is needed for financial planning, determining how to fund and finance a project, and considering which strategic approaches can be used to protect local investments.
- Pricing Resources includes various guides, tools, and case studies on pricing for water services.
- Financing Alternatives Comparison Tool (FACT) helps identify the most cost-effective method to fund a wastewater or drinking water management project.
- Guidebook of Financial Tools: Paying for Environmental (PDF)(223 pp, 2.6 MB, About PDF) Systems provides information on approximately 340 financial tools that include traditional means of raising revenue, borrowing capital, enhancing credit, creating public-private partnerships, and providing technical assistance. Learn about the Environmental Finance Center Network.
The Environmental Finance Center Network and other technical assistance providers offer a wide variety of financial tools for water and wastewater utilities, including tools for rate setting and affordability.
- Affordability Tools: These tools assess the affordability of a utility’s water and wastewater services for their customers. There are also tools to assess the cost of implementing a customer assistance program in areas with affordability issues.
- Rate Setting Tools: These tools help set water or wastewater rates by projecting the utility's expenses, revenues, and fund balance for the next few years. They can help determine if the utility needs to adjust rates to achieve financial stability.
These financial tools can be found at:
- University of North Carolina Environmental Finance Center Tools
- Wichita State Environmental Finance Center Tools
- NRWA State Affiliate Tools
Technical Assistance Partners
The Water Finance Center collaborates with stakeholders that work with small and rural systems to increase financial capabilities.
- Capacity Development Program
EPA’s capacity development program helps small system owners and operators, state and tribal agencies, technical assistance providers, and consumers help small water systems provide safe drinking water and protect public health. Every state has a capacity development program to help small systems improve their finances, management, infrastructure, and operations.
- Environmental Finance Center (EFC) Network
EFCs partner with, states, tribes, local governments and the private sector to deliver targeted technical assistance to the water sector. EFCs and their partners provide innovative solutions to help manage the costs of environmental financing and program management.
- U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development
Rural Development offers loans, grants, loan guarantees and technical assistance to support essential services in rural areas including water, electric, and communications infrastructure.
- National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
NRWA is a national network of non-profit organizations that:- Trains, supports, and promotes the water and wastewater professionals that serve rural and small communities across the U.S. and
- Provides training and technical assistance through 49 affiliated State Rural Water Associations on operating, managing, and financing water and wastewater utilities.
- Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP)
RCAP is a national network of non-profit organizations that:- Helps rural and small communities throughout the U.S. access safe drinking water and sanitary wastewater disposal and
- Provides training and technical assistance through six regional organizations on financing, managing, and operating water and wastewater systems.
EPA's Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) program
EPA's free Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) services support communities to identify water challenges, develop plans, build capacity, and develop application materials to access water infrastructure funding. To implement WaterTA, EPA collaborates with states, Tribes, territories, community partners, and other key stakeholders.
- Learn more about WaterTA services and programs.