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On March 4, 2026, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the launch of its the Real Water Technical Assistance (RealWaterTA) initiative. The press release highlights that the goal of the RealWaterTA initiative is to refocus on "public health and compliance with the Safe Drinking Water Act and Clean Water Act" largely through "align[ing] all technical assistance for drinking water and wastewater systems with tried-and-true services, such as engineering and design expertise, operational support, workforce development, and financial management." The press release and the EPA memorandum on which it is based highlight that small, rural, and tribal water systems will benefit the most from RealWaterTA.
2023 Biden EPA Memorandum – WaterTA
The press release and memorandum highlight that RealWaterTA is designed to replace its 2023 predecessor from the Biden Administration – WaterTA. The RealWaterTA memorandum highlights (at p. 1) that the WaterTA initiative was too broad according to the Trump EPA in that it included "nebulous actions like updating a university's website and 'fostering regional communication,' ironically justified with unquantifiable impacts like 'enhanced learning outcomes'" as well as "items like 'storytelling' and 'reducing climate change impacts.'"
The WaterTA memorandum, from 2023, is focused on three principles: providing direct assistance, supporting communities to take concrete steps towards accessing water infrastructure funding, and coordinating and collaborating to support effective delivery of WaterTA. It also shows that services included planning and assessment, project development, partnerships and engagement, funding and financing, and program management support.
2026 Trump EPA Memorandum – RealWaterTA
The RealWaterTA memorandum highlights the following 8 goals:
- Support returning to and maintaining compliance;
- Focus on traditional and innovative water infrastructure;
- Define the scope of technical assistance;
- Strengthen technical, managerial, and financial management;
- Empower the water workforce;
- Improve financial readiness and access to financial assistance;
- Reduce inefficient costs; and
- Drive real-world results.
The memorandum provides more detail about what each of those goals entails.
The RealWaterTA website provides more information on EPA's approach here. It highlights specific initiatives including closing America's wastewater access gap; tackling emerging contaminants; and technical assistance for rural, small, and tribal systems. It also lists additional programs and related initiatives.
Other RealWaterTA Information
EPA also issued essentially an FAQ page. That page provides that the following parties can qualify for RealWaterTA: local governments/communities; drinking water utilities/systems; wastewater utilities/systems; stormwater utilities/systems; states, Tribes, territories; and non-governmental organizations. It also includes a link to submit a request for assistance, other practical information/resources, and examples.
Impact
From just the memoranda alone, it is difficult to fully appreciate the impact of this new policy/the change from WaterTA to RealWaterTA. It appears that from the way the 2026 (Trump) memorandum discusses the 2023 (Biden) memorandum and the specific examples it uses that the primary difference is that the scope of RealWaterTA funding/assistance will be narrower than WaterTA. By listing areas such as updating a website and storytelling, EPA seems to be suggesting that the focus of RealWaterTA will be on items that are more traditionally thought of as technical assistance/meet a much more literal definition of technical assistance.
The impacts for any particular water provider (or other interested party) will vary. The hope is that this new initiative will free up more funding for traditional technical assistance. It will likely foreclose opportunities for a more expansive definition. Water providers will be in the best position possible to obtain technical assistance by keeping this initiative in mind.
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