Water System Circuit Rider Program

In 1980, the USDA Farmers Home Administration, in collaboration with NRWA, established the Rural Water Circuit Rider Program. This program provides a nationwide team of drinking water professionals to provide training and technical assistance to water utility managers, boards and operations specialists. This training is designed as on-site, hands-on, activity-based training, where participants take ownership in learning how to resolve their current and future problems. The program is designed to protect USDA Rural Development’s current water utility infrastructure investments and help them plan for a more sustainable future.

Circuit Riders provide hands-on training and technical assistance to small, rural water systems on an everyday basis, 24/7. Personal, professional assistance is at the heart of the Circuit Rider program. On-site help is delivered when and where a rural community needs it. Assistance to small communities and rural utility systems serving a population of 10,000 or less has included:

• Identifying & evaluating affordable solutions to water & wastewater problems in rural areas
• Assisting systems to rapidly respond & recover after natural & man-made emergencies such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, wildfires, ice storms and the health pandemic, COVID-19
• Protecting the environment & public health by improving treatment processes
• Improving financial sustainability through better management practices, more efficient operations & better maintained system components
• Enhancing compliance with federal regulations
• Assistance directed toward RD/RUS borrowers and potential borrowers
• Assistance provided for all aspects of water utility management, finance, operation and maintenance, regulatory compliance, energy efficiency and loan/grant applications

Circuit Riders:

Jason Grzadzieleski - Southern half of the state

Ward Heidbreder - Northern half of the state

Jeremy Aasen - Disaster recovery