The Safe Drinking Water Act was established in 1974 to protect public health by regulating the nation’s public drinking water supply. For rural communities to be compliant, a lot of money was invested in water and sewer infrastructure in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Utility board members and water and sewer operators who began their careers during this time often continued to serve the utilities until their retirement. For many communities, the exodus of this generation of community water resource leaders combined with aging infrastructure meant water infrastructure was not maintained.Today, a new generation of water and wastewater operators and
