Thanks to Pam Higgins for sharing what's going on in her neck of the woods. In this age of needing to do more with less, collaboration and coordination such as in this example are all the more important.
In 2004 EPA initiated a biannual meeting of organizations involved in assisting tribal utility departments in Montana. The group is made up of a diverse mix of federal agencies (IHS, EPA, USDA, and HUD); nonprofits such as the Midwest Assistance Program now Rural Community Assistance Corporation staff and Montana Rural Water; contractors working for state and federal agencies, such as Rural and Tribal Environmental Solutions, and the State of Montana.
The goal of the group is to share information on services being provided and identify needs not being met. Planning for training has been a major focus of the group, but other topics such as responding to emergencies, funding opportunities and operator certification have also been covered. Meetings are limited to twice per year but members of the group frequently follow up on topics between meetings.
In 2011 the group’s federal agencies began coordinating its review of utility projects for which tribes are seeking funding. Through this process agencies have been able to provide technical input on projects which other agencies do not have expertise in. In addition, when funding from several agencies is being sought for a project it has been possible to better coordinate and identify ways to fund large projects. In 2011 participating federal agencies were EPA, IHS and USDA. The group’s goal is to incorporate other agencies to the extent they are interested and available.
On December 20, 2012 the Montana Tribal Technical Assistance group will meet to kick off the Rural Community Assistance Corporation's Tribal Governance Program (TUG) in Montana. The group will discuss the program benefits to the tribal utilities operators such as obtaining the skills, knowledge and understanding of basic managerial/financial concepts to run a system effectively. The TUG program provides information on operating a utility like a business and assists the operator to understand how to lead a council in environmental issues related to utility management. The group will discuss tribal utilities participation in the Montana Tribal Utility Governance Program kick off training to be held on February 20, 2013 in Great Falls, MT.
For more information on the Montana Tribal Utility Governance program, please call Pam Higgins at 406-538-5173.
