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Citizen Advisory Board
The Capacity Development Citizens Advisory Board (CAB) is pleased to present the Report of Findings on Improving the Financial, Technical, and Managerial Capacity of Alaska's Public Drinking Water Systems. This report describes the research and deliberations carried out by our committee over the past fifteen months. The provisions of Section 1420 of the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act both informed and directed our efforts.
The committee recognizes the very unusual characteristics of water operations in Alaska, much of which requires a huge commitment of State resources. The State of Alaska is unique in many ways. Its vastness and harsh climate, combined with inaccessibility to major population centers, offers a variety of challenges to operators of water systems often not found in the rest of the nation. Operating a water system in geography where the ground and air temperature remain below freezing most months of the year is not only costly, but exposes systems to the potential for catastrophic disaster if appropriate technical, managerial, and/or financial tools are not in place.
At the heart of the Report of Findings (pdf format) are fourteen recommendations for specific programmatic elements that DEC may consider as it develops a strategy for assisting Alaska's public water systems in improving their capability to achieve and maintain compliance with the drinking water regulations. Although these recommendations are only a sampling of the possibilities considered by our group, we believe they represent a common sense selection of opportunities for DEC to provide meaningful and cost effective assistance to water systems.
Copies of the full Report of Findings (pdf format) have been sent to all Class A public drinking water systems in Alaska. If you are interested in viewing a copy of the report in its entirety, it can be obtained through the owner of your drinking water system, downloading it from the Internet, or by contacting your local DEC office.
Please fill this questionnaire (pdf format) after reading the report. We value your comments and suggestions. The feedback we receive will be addressed in the final version. Thank you for your time and consideration in this important process.
Sincerely,
CAB Subcommittee Representatives:
Steven Forthun
AK Native Tribal Health Consortium
Bill Gordon
Utility Services of AK
William W. Harvey
City of Wasilla
Bruce R. Jones
City of Petersburg
Bill Kranich
M-W Drilling
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