Training Events & Webinars

​Upcoming Training Events & Webinars

No-Cost Resilience Planning and Adaptation Training for the Water Utility Sector – In-dept Training on CREAT – November 10, 12, 17, and December 1 – webinar series

To complement the Building Resilience to Extreme Weather Events – Introductory Session webinar (July 2020), EPA is hosting a free virtual CREAT traning to help drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater utilities use CREAT for resilience planning and adpating to extreme weather threats to infrastructure and resources. Developed by EPA's Creating Resilient Water Utilities initiative, CREAT is a risk assessment application that helps utilities to adapt to extreme weather events by better understanding current and long-term weather conditions. These four webinars (two hours each) will help attendees conduct a risk assessment using CREAT, identify and share information on adaptation strategies to build utility long-term resilience, and share information on available resources for financing and resilience and adaptation. Session 1 - Tuesday, November 10, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon CT – Training  Overview and CREAT Modules 1 (Climate Awareness) and 2 (Scenario Development). Register by April 17, 2020. Session 2 - Thursday, November 12, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon CT — CREAT Modules 3 (Consequences and Assets) and 4 (Adaptation Planning). Session 3 - Thursday, November 17, 10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon CT– CREAT Module 5 (Risk Assessment( and Overview of Local Financial Resources for Funding Adaptation Measures. Session 4 - Tuesday, December 1, 10:00 a.m. - 12: 00 noon CT – Questions & Answers on Using CREAT and How to Apply It to Particular Circumstances. Sessions have short homework assisgnments. Attendees who are certified Minnesota drinking water operators and attend sessions 1, 2, and 3 are eligible for 6.0 credit hours; attendees who are Minnesota wastewater operators and attend sessions 1, 2, and 3 may be  eligible for continuing education units (application pending). Registration deadline i November 3. Register at https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9101362940057624843. For more information, e-mail Alfredo Lagos at alfredo.lagos@gdit.com. To learn more abut CREAT, visit creat.epa.gov.

An Introduction to the Great Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Center, the EPA Region 5 Environmental Finance Center – December 1-3, 2020 – Novi, Michigan

A session at the Great Lakes Water Infrastruture Conference, April 28-30. The Great Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Center (GLEIC) serves as the Environmental Finance Center for the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 5, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. The GLEIC's mission is to provide technical, managerial, and financial advice to help small rural communities build innovative, cost-effective, high-quality strategies for environmental improvement. This introduction to the center will give attendees and overview of the GLEIC and provide a mini "Infrastructure Finance Basics" workshop. This mini-workshop covers infrastructure funding, asset management principles, interest rates and loans, municipal notes and bonds, and fees and assessments. Presenter: John Sullivan, PE, Senior Research Engineer, Great Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Center. Register by April 17, 2020. Registration for April 28th only is $95 or for entire three-day conference is $175. For more details or to register, visit https://www.michigan.gov/egle/0,9429,7-135-3308_3333-500683--,00.html.

Having Enough Money for Today and Tomorrow – December 16, 2020 – webinar (no cost to attend)

A What are all of the costs of running a drinking water utility? This webinar will help water systems recognize the costs related to operations and capital needs, including costs that systems often overlook. The webinar will also identify which costs are tied to water production and will describe how costs change over time. The objective of the webinar is for water systems to be able to calculate their financial needs for the next five years. The webinar will also summarize the state and federal loan and grant programs that are available to drinking water utilities. Presenter: Glenn Barnes. For more details or to register, visit http://ctt.nonprofitsoapbox.com/2020gleic-money.

POSTPONED: Setting the Right Rates for Your System Workshop – No new date April 23, 2020, 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. – Rockford, Illinois

This intermediate-level workshop will ensure the financial stability of your water system while providing safe, quality drinking water at fair rates. The workshop will focus on how systems can select rate-setting objectives and match those with appropriate rate structures. This workshop is appropriate for any community water system that charges customers for water consumption. It is designed for drinking water system managers, clerks, treasurers, board members, and others who budget and/or set rates. Attendees will learn how to 1) develop rate-setting objectives, 2) determine the cost of providing water service, 3) anticipate changes in revenues year to year by changes in demand, 4) measure the affordability of rates for all of your customers, and 5) create rate structures that promote water conservation or promote water use. Instructor: Shadi Eskaf, Research Director, The Environmental Finance Center at The University of North Carolina. No cost to attend. For more details or to register, visit https://efcnetwork.org/events/illinois-setting-the-right-rates-for-your-....

Stay tuned! More events coming soon!

Registering for a Training Event

Please note that GLEIC event registration is handled by the Center for Technology & Training at Michigan Technological University; you will be forwarded to their event registration page when clicking on more information or registration links. If you have a question about your registration, you can contact the GLEIC at gleic-support@mtu.edu or (906) 487-2102 or you can contact the Center for Technology & Training at ctt@mtu.edu or (906) 487-2102.

Past Training Events & Webinars

• ​Resilience Planning and Adaptation Training for the Water Utility Sector – Thursday, July 23, 2020, 10:00 a.m.-12:00 noon – view webinar details

• Rates and Rate Structure Designs for Small Water Systems in Illinois– July 15, 2020, 1:00-2:00 p.m. CT – view webinar detail

• Intro to Asset Management and Lead Service Line Replacement – October 17, 2019 – Maize, Kansas – view event details 
  
  • In this workshop, you will learn how asset management can benefit your system, and get answers to several important questions relating to lead service line replacement. With limited revenues, aging infrastructure, and regulatory obligations to meet, a comprehensive approach to managing your system is vital. You may have problems related to unknown meter, valve, or hydrant locations. You may not be sure of which asset(s) to replace given limited funds. Asset Management can help you solve these problems, and more. The concerns about lead water pipes were elevated nationally by the problems with lead in the potable water in Flint, Michigan. Lead has been banned in connection with potable water use by Federal law since 1986. This workshop will provide an overview of key information and facts regarding lead service line replacement. You will learn: 1) How to identify the five core components of asset management, 2) How to make decisions about operating, maintaining, repairing, and replacing those assets,  3) How to set goals for level of service at a sustainable cost, 4) Why lead service line replacement is important, 5) How lead gets into drinking water, 6) What the lead service line federal rules and regulations are. Presenters at this workshop are Jerry Blain, PE, project associate at Wichita State University Environmental Finance Center, and John A. Sullivan, PE, senior research engineer at Michigan Technological University Great Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Center.
     
• Lead Service Line Replacement Webinar – September 12, 2019
  
  • The concerns about lead water pipes were elevated nationally by the problems with lead in the potable water in Flint, Michigan. Lead has been banned in connection with potable water use by federal law since 1986. In this webinar, we will answer several importan questions related to lead service line replacement, including: 1) Why is lead a problem? 2) Why is lead service line replacement important? 3) How does lead get into drinking water? 4) What are the federal rules and regulations? This webinar is presented by John A. Sullivan, PE, senior research engineer at the Great Lakes Environmental Infrastructure Center at Michigan Technological University.
• Minnesota Water Utilities Resilience Planning & Adaptation Training – July 18, 2019 – St. Could, Minnesota – view event flyer
• How to Start Your Needed Infrastructure Project Webinar – April 23, 2019 – slides
  
  • Infrastructure upgrades and improvements are a necessary part of operating a small water or wastewater system, but they can often be difficult to get started. In this webinar, the GLEIC's John Sullivian will explain where to look for sources of infrastructure funding, including USDA Rural Development programs and State Revolving Fund programs, and how to assemble and select a team of professionals. He will also detail the services and contributions of financial, legal, and technical project partners; the quality-based selection process for technical engineering services; and the services that engineers provide during the preliminary, design, and construction phases of the project. This event is sponsored by Smart Management for Small Water Systems.
• Great Lakes Commission des Grands Lacs Integrated Water Asset Management Webinar Series (1: What is Integrated Water Asset Management; 2: Water Infrastructure Financing and IWAM; 3: Technology and IWAM; 4: IWAM Policy and Program Implementation – February-May 2019 – Recordings of all IAMM webinars
• 2019 EPA Region 5 Water Forum & Pre-forum EFC Network Asset Management for Water Systems Workshop – February 19 & 20 – Mount Pleasant, Michigan 
• 2018 EPA Region 5 Water Finance Forum – June 7– Findlay, Ohio (presentations from the forum)
• 2018 Infrastructure Finance Basics Workshop – May 23 – St. Cloud, Minnesota 
• 2017 Infrastructure Finance Basics Workshop – July 26 – Mount Pleasant, Michigan
• 2017 Strategic Land-Use Planning Webinar – July 25
• 2017 Infrastructure Finance Basics Workshop – Wausau, Wisconsin