1. Needs Assessments in Rural Communities
Holly Alpert, Ph.D.
November 8, 2018

2. Inyo-Mono Experience
32 formal needs assessments in and 2013 through Prop. 84 Planning, DAC grants
24 DACs
Technical, managerial, financial elements (print sample form)
Conducted by CRWA

3. Approaching potential NA recipients
Introduce process and entity conducting assessment
Discuss what information will be requested
Sensitive information
Phone calls and/or letters
Lahontan Basins: 6 needs assessments so far

4. Conducting the Needs Assessment
On-site meeting with system
2-4 hours
Can include operators, board members, other staff
Challenges: long travel distances, skeptical community members, difficulty communicating & scheduling, busy staff & board members

5. Formal needs assessments results
Individual results
Inyo-Mono Regional trends
Technical: contamination issues, aging infrastructure
Managerial: staff & board turnover, lack of records, lacking written operator instructions & job responsibilities, water conservation plans, emergency prevention
Financial: lacking 5-year budgets, capital improvement plans, project needs

6. Informal needs assessments
Outreach meetings, informal conversations, emergency situations, other efforts (e.g., median household income surveys or rate studies)
Willingness to share information considered sensitive

7. Informing further work
Individual system/community technical assistance
Set of water conservation/drought response plans
Trainings
Group trainings with continuing education credits
Sample topics: water sampling, capital improvement plans, 5-year budgets
Developing projects & finding funding
CRWA also conducted NAs in Mojave, Lahontan Basins, SAWPA, and Sac River Funding Area through DACI

8. Next steps Conduct first or second assessments for some DAC systems
Continue more informal conversations in communities
Aggregate results to the funding area
Conduct assessments outside of IRWM regions