(October 30, 2019) – The Water Research Foundation (WRF), the American Water Works Association (AWWA), and NACWA joined together this week to release a guide that can help drinking water utilities and clean water utilities evaluate potential utility partnerships.   

Water Utility Partnerships: Resource Guide and Toolbox encourages utilities to form partnerships to achieve greater technical, managerial and financial capacity while working to maintain regulatory compliance and provide communities with water services.

The framework outlined in the resource guide helps utilities to:

• Develop partnership teams with shared visions;
• Identify and evaluate partnership structures and legal agreements that maximize opportunities; and
• Create partnerships that bring value to all parties and the community.

The resource guide provides workbooks to help utilities considering partnerships. Topics to be addressed by interested organizations include:

• Who should be involved in the analysis of partnerships;
• How to make a business case for partnerships; and
• What differences may exist in partnerships between clean water and drinking water agencies.

NACWA thanks WRF and AWWA for the opportunity to partner on this important project and looks forward to continued collaboration in supporting the growth of utility partnerships where they are appropriate and make sense for local communities.