It may have been Jerry Maguire (Tom Cruise as a Sports Agent) who declared, “SHOW ME THE MONEY!” but local governments all over Texas and the U.S. are being shown the money available for infrastructure, technology, broadband, and a myriad of other investments. Larger and urban utilities know how to access funding with their long-term plans and shovel-ready projects. However, that’s not the case for smaller rural utilities.
We’re talking water here, the base of every vibrant economy, irrespective of size. These new federal grant programs and allocations have room to leverage funding, and they are set aside for smaller, rural utilities.
But how does a small utility compete for funding? Where is the critical technical expertise, and who will pay for it?
But how does a small utility compete for funding? Where is the critical technical expertise, and who will pay for it? Most small utilities lack funding and technical expertise to provide services that meet the defined need (planning, permitting, engineering, operations, and so much more) and structure received funding to comply with federal and state requirements. They need to know the allowable expenses for each funding mechanism and then design systems to track and account for expenditures.
Water is vital, but experienced technical assistance is priceless.
The good news is that some of these funding sources can be used to identify and pay for technical assistance. By leveraging these funding sources together, real projects can be accomplished, systems upgraded, services established, and the golden benchmark: water security.
Anser Advisory knows Texas water. To ensure the water security of Texas communities, we know how to secure and leverage the funding into tangible projects, system upgrades, and establish collaborative partnerships between small and rural utilities to position them competitively for funding and operational costs.
We know Texas. We know water. We know the state and federal government, and we know how to get things done.
Visit waterworks4texas.com today to learn more.
About the Author
Carlos Rubinstein
Water Policy Consultant, Anser Advisory
Rubinstein is an expert on Texas water policy. As chairperson of the Texas Water Development Board (2013-2015) he oversaw the implementation of the $2 billion State Water Infrastructure Fund. (SWIFT). He is a Board Member of the Texas Water Foundation and the Texas Water Trade. Rubinstein has served as the Texas representative to the Western States Water Council, and the Border Governors' Conference Sustainable Development worktable. Rubinstein served as a commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from 2009–2013. He is a former deputy executive director of TCEQ and Rio Grande Watermaster. Rubinstein has appeared as an expert witness on various environmental cases and has published several peer-reviewed articles on Texas water policy. He is a former city manager for the City of Brownsville. Rubinstein earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Pan American University.