Integrated Planning Technical Assistance

• Current Technical Assistance
• Past Technical Assistance Efforts
• Resources

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Current Technical Assistance

EPA currently has free Water Technical Assistance (WaterTA) services to support communities to identify water challenges, develop plans, build capacity, and develop application materials to access water infrastructure funding. Developing an integrated plan is an eligible project for communities interested in pursuing funding through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF). Learn how to apply to the CWSRF.

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Past Technical Assistance

In 2024, EPA provided states and municipalities free technical assistance to support the integrated plan development and review process. Completed resources that would benefit municipalities and states, will be provided when they are available.

In 2020, EPA provided technical assistance to states and municipalities through collaboration with the Environmental Finance Centers (EFCs) at the University of Maryland and University of North Carolina. The assistance focused on getting started with Integrated Planning and included facilitating three webcasts:

• Communities in New Jersey, Getting Started: Integrated Planning Community Workshop for Small to Medium-Sized Municipalities
• EFC Integrated Planning Peer-to-Peer exchange for municipalities
• Introducing EPA’s Integrated Planning Element Four – Analyzing and Prioritizing Projects

In addition, technical assistance included a case study report: Leveraging the Integrated Planning Framework for Advancing Climate Resilience and Environmental Justice.

In 2016, EPA provided technical assistance to five communities to develop elements of integrated plans for municipal wastewater and stormwater management:

• Burlington, Vermont – The city of Burlington developed community-based evaluation criteria based on social, economic, and environmental factors to identify and prioritize potential wastewater, stormwater, and combined sewer system projects.
• Durham, New Hampshire – The town of Durham and the University of New Hampshire developed an integrated plan using information on pollution tracking and accounting systems to focus on cross-jurisdictional coordination and methods to credit point versus nonpoint pollution controls.
  • Durham, New Hampshire's Integrated Plan (PDF)(69 pp, 2.6 MB, About PDF)
• Onondaga County, New York – The Onondaga County Department of Water Environment Protection worked with multiple municipal separate storm sewer systems (MS4s) and other stakeholders, developed priorities, and evaluated proposed wastewater and stormwater projects.
• Santa Maria, California – The city of Santa Maria developed methods to identify, evaluate, and select water resource management projects that address multiple wastewater, stormwater, and other water quality issues.
  • Santa Maria, California's Integrated Plan
• Springfield, Missouri – The city of Springfield, Greene County, and City Utilities of Springfield developed a benefits analysis of water resources to use for integrated planning.
  • Springfield, Missouri's Integrated Plan

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Resources

In addition to supporting these community planning efforts, the projects resulted in three reports that provide practical examples and transferable tools to communities that are interested in integrated planning. The reports and related supporting documents below focus on three main themes: public outreach and engagement, prioritizing projects, and characterizing the value of water to inform decision-making.

• Public Outreach for Integrated Wastewater and Stormwater Planning (pdf) (1.81 MB)
  This report focuses on public outreach, Element 3 of the integrated planning process. Includes case studies from Burlington, Vermont and Onondaga County, New York.
• Prioritizing Wastewater and Stormwater Projects Using Stakeholder Input (pdf) (5 MB)
  This report describes how communities can use stakeholder input to select and rank criteria and apply those criteria to prioritize stormwater and wastewater projects. Includes case studies from Burlington, Vermont, Onondaga County, New York, and Santa Maria, California.
• Integrated Planning: Characterizing the Value of Water to Inform Decision-Making (pdf) (1.65 MB)
  This document presents approaches for quantifying water resource users and estimating the value of water resources. Includes examples from the City of Springfield and Green County, Missouri.
• Estimating the Value of Water: A Literature Review (pdf) (1.64 MB)
  This document describes the methodology and results of a literature review of relevant studies that examined how communities similar to Springfield estimated their water resource value.
• Estimating Users of Water Resources: Springfield–Greene County Data Collection Plan (pdf) (3.52 MB)
  This data collection plan provides next steps for the Springfield and Green County project partners and ideas for other communities on how to collect water resource user data to help support an integrated planning process.