NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP Disadvantaged Community & Tribal Water & Wastewater Service Providers Needs Assessment Summary September 2020 Submitted to: California Department of Water Resources Submitted by: North Coast Resource Partnership A special acknowledgement to our state funding partner: NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP September 2020 NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP Disadvantaged Community & Tribal Water & Wastewater Service Providers Needs Assessment Summary, September 2020 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................................ 3 SURVEY & INTERVIEW TOPICS ............................................................................................................................... 3 1. DISADVANTAGED NON-TRIBAL WATER & WASTEWATER SERVICE PROVIDERS ............... 4 1.1 IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY WATER/WASTEWATER SYSTEMS .......................................................... 4 1.2 SURVEY & INTERVIEW EFFORT ................................................................................................................... 10 1.3 SURVEY RESPONSE RATE ............................................................................................................................ 11 1.4 SURVEY & INTERVIEW RESULTS ................................................................................................................. 12 1.5 SURVEY-DERIVED TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE ............................................................................................ 19 1.6 NEXT STEPS ................................................................................................................................................. 21 2. TRIBAL WATER & WASTEWATER SERVICE PROVIDERS ..............................................................23 2.1 IDENTIFICATION OF COMMUNITY WATER/WASTEWATER SYSTEMS ........................................................ 23 2.2 SURVEY & INTERVIEW EFFORT ................................................................................................................... 25 2.3 SURVEY RESPONSE RATE ............................................................................................................................ 25 2.4 SURVEY RESULTS ......................................................................................................................................... 26 2.5 NEXT STEPS .......................................................................................................................................... 31 APPENDIX A. Types of Water Suppliers & Wastewater Treatment Providers & Applicable Regulations ...............................................................................................................32 APPENDIX B. 2020 Community Water and Wastewater Service Providers Serving North Coast Disadvantaged Communities ............................................................35 APPENDIX C. Respondent Comments Grouped by Subject ..................................................................38 APPENDIX D. Water Supply & Wastewater Needs Assessment Survey & Interview Questions ............................................................................................................................55 APPENDIX E. Non-Respondent Statistics .....................................................................................................68 APPENDIX F. Technical Assistance & Trainings In-depth Responses .............................................71 APPENDIX G. Responses to Key Survey & Interview Questions ........................................................76 APPENDIX H. NCRP Technical Assistance Selection Process ............................................................79 APPENDIX I. NCRP Technical Assistance Rankings ................................................................................87 APPENDIX J. Survey-Derived Technical Assistance ...............................................................................95 APPENDIX K. Tribal Water Supply & Wastewater Needs Assessment Survey & Interview Questions ......................................................................................................................... 101 APPENDIX L. Tribal Survey Comments Grouped by Subject ............................................................ 114 APPENDIX M. Round 1 Tribal Technical Assistance Selection Process ...................................... 120 APPENDIX N. Tribal Pilot Project Selection Process ........................................................................... 124 Table of Contents, Appendices & Acknowledgements 1 NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP September 2020 2 Disadvantaged Community & Tribal Water & Wastewater Service Providers Needs Assessment Summary NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP September 2020 INTRODUCTION SURVEY & INTERVIEW TOPICS The North Coast Resource Partnership (NCRP) was The surveys and interviews were intended to provide awarded funding from the Department of Water useful information for continued successful regional Resources (DWR) Integrated Regional Water Management water management planning. Major issues that affect (IRWM) Program through Proposition 1 to implement local systems and needs were identified related to the Disadvantaged Community and Tribal Involvement training, technical support, capacity-building, regulations, Program (DACTI). Part of this funding was used to survey aging or failing infrastructure, the need for trained and water suppliers and wastewater treatment operators in certified staff, financing, planned projects, and level of economically disadvantaged communities (DACs) and to familiarity with the NCRP. The following is a list of the survey Tribes, in an effort to identify needs associated general topics included in the survey and interview: with the capacity and quality of service of small water • General System Information supply and wastewater services providers in the North Coast region. The goals of the survey were to engage • Funding and Financing Information small water and wastewater providers in economically • Technical Assistance and Training Needs disadvantaged and underrepresented communities in the regional water management planning process • System Needs and facilitate/ increase their participation in IRWM • Regulatory Issues implementation project funding opportunities such as the 2019 Proposition 1 funding round. Surveys • Climate Issues were circulated to all public water systems serving • Flood issues economically disadvantaged communities in the North Coast region including Tribes, cities, special districts, • Forest Health and privately-owned water suppliers. The approach to • Community Issues surveying North Coast Tribes was tailored to address the specific needs and culture of Tribal communities. • Perceived Water Quality A special effort was made to obtain responses • Fire Suppression Water Supply from the small systems and Tribes that did not participate in the 2014 NCRP System Needs Survey. • Familiarity with the NCRP Concurrent with the survey efforts, in-depth interviews were conducted with Tribes and in specific watersheds to drill down and investigate the on-the-ground experience of individuals in and out of the water industry. Key experts from within the following groups were sought for their professional experience as well as their connection to economically disadvantaged communities and Tribes: Tribal leadership, administration, water providers, water- based recreation organizations, municipal departments, environmental departments, ecological nonprofits, family resource centers, senior centers, and emergency services. Disadvantaged Community & Tribal Water & Wastewater Service Providers Needs Assessment Summary 3 NORTH COAST RESOURCE PARTNERSHIP September 2020 A. Types of Water Suppliers & Wastewater Treatment 1. DISADVANTAGED Providers & Applicable Regulations). Each community has NON-TRIBAL WATER stitched together its own unique strategy for water and wastewater supply, and these strategies are undergoing & WASTEWATER constant refinement. For example, some trailer parks and local community water systems have consolidated SERVICE PROVIDERS with larger systems to secure a reliable source of good quality water. Such changes can be difficult to track 1.1 IDENTIFICATION OF down, making maintaining an accurate list of water and COMMUNITY WATER/ wastewater providers in the region an ongoing task. WASTEWATER SYSTEMS The 2014 list of 336 water and wastewater systems in Water and wastewater services within the North Coast the North Coast was used as a starting point to identify are delivered by a wide variety of service providers water and wastewater systems in the region. The ranging from publicly owned entities (e.g., cities, State Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) and special districts, and public utilities) to private entities county planning documents were searched to make (homeowners’ associations, mobile home park owners, sure the list was comprehensive before narrowing and individuals or businesses). This survey effort included the list to focus on economically disadvantaged system operators that provide service to disadvantaged communities. In April 2020, the North Coast water communities, which includes local agencies (cities supply and wastewater treatment system contained and special districts), public utilities, mutual water 308 non-Tribal water and wastewater systems. The associations (e.g., homeowners’ and neighborhood