EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Cyber Resilience Division has partnered with the New York State Department of Health to offer a free Cybersecurity Overview and Tabletop Exercise for Water and Wastewater Utilities.

The Cybersecurity Overview will cover:
• EPA resources available to help water and wastewater utilities improve cybersecurity resilience
• Common cybersecurity threats against the water sector
• Basic cyber hygiene practices
• CISA cybersecurity resources
• Building a relationship with the FBI

Date: September 27, 2023, 9am - 12pm: Webinar

Registration: To register click here and scan the QR code

Contact Hours: The NYS Department of Health will award 3 contact hours for this session

Water Circuit Rider — Western Region

The NYRWA is accepting applications in anticipation of an opening for our Western Region Water Circuit Rider position. The purpose of the Circuit Rider program is to provide on-site technical assistance to small rural water systems (systems serving less than 10,000 customers) with issues ranging from leak detection, line location, treatment issues, regulatory compliance, emergency response plans, standard operating procedures, asset management plans and all forms of capacity development. 

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS                     
1. Travels extensively throughout western New York State to offer on-site technical assistance.

2. Provides assistance in all areas of operations, maintenance, management, security, finance, public health and environmental issues.

3. Provides the type of assistance that offers "training" rather than "fixing."

4. Prioritize requests to ensure coverage of water systems with serious health or economic problems first.

5. Circuit Riders are required to attend (2) National Rural Water Association training events per year, typically held in June and September in various locations around the country.

6. Reviews new technical standards set and proposed by public and private organizations.

7. Develops informational magazine articles quarterly for publication.         

8. Responds to inquiries from facilities, governmental agencies and others regarding technical matters.

9. Works closely with both the USDA, Rural Development staff and NYS Department of Health personnel.

10. Accurately completes and submits daily activity logs and monthly reports in a timely fashion.

11. Eligible candidates must possess a NYS Water Operator Certification; preference will be given to applicants with a Grade IIA & D Certification.

 
SALARY AND BENEFITS:
- Company vehicle, laptop, cell phone, printer and all equipment needed to complete the field work.

- Flexible work schedule, you develop your own schedule, but must work 40 hours per week.

- Salary contingent upon qualifications, experience and ability.

- Health and dental insurance or a monthly stipend are provided.

- 401(k) retirement plan

How to Apply:
Please submit your resume with salary requirements to Jamie Herman, CEO, at herman@nyruralwater.org

It is never too early to apply for our scholarship program. As many of you know, each year, the NYRWA distributes one-time grants to five students across New York State valued at $500 to help defray the cost of tuition, books or room and board at an accredited institution of higher learning approved by the NYRWA.

This is a member benefit, and we appreciate your assistance in ensuring students from your area have this opportunity to apply. In order to be eligible for a scholarship, applicants must complete the application form in its entirety and return it to the NYRWA by the entry postmark deadline, February 1, 2024. All pertinent information on applying are within the Official Rules, including the requirement to include an essay and student transcripts to be eligible.

The application can be found here: https://nyruralwater.org/downloads/downloads-index, the link is on the right-hand side. Please be sure to share this application with anyone that will be attending college in the Fall of 2024.

Have you received water and/or wastewater technical assistance from NYRWA? Have you attended NYRWA in-person or web-based training? Has your system benefited from a Source Water Protection Plan or Energy Efficiency Assessment from NYRWA? If so, WE NEED YOUR HELP!  NYRWA is respectfully asking our system members to draft and submit letters of support for the services you have received. These letters are crucial, so we can deliver your message to our elected representatives that more needs to be done to fund water and wastewater infrastructure. Please, we need as many members as possible to draft the support letters on your letterhead and mail to our office at:

NYRWA, Inc.
PO Box 487
Claverack, NY 12513

Let's make this letter writing campaign a huge success, please participate. We thank you in advance for your consideration.

In an effort to continue to serve our membership, our staff worked diligently to develop initial certification courses for both Grade C & D water operation specialists. The new classroom-based courses are approved by the NYS Department of Health, Bureau of Water Supply Protection, and meet the most current standards as identified in the model curriculum. Our thanks to the NYSDOH personnel for their expedient yet thorough review and approval of our course materials.

To our members: We appreciate your patience and understanding as we complete this transition. We have a Grade D course already scheduled and plan to offer (2) more courses in 2023 that will accept both Grade C & D students. Please keep an eye on our website training page for more information: https://www.nyruralwater.org/training/classroom-training

**UPDATE: 

Grade D Initial Certification Course: October 17-20, 2023, Watertown (only a few seats left)

Grade C & D Initial Certification Course: December 11-15, 2023, Ghent

The New York Rural Water Association's 45th Annual Technical Training
Workshop & Exhibition will be
Monday, May 20, 2024 - Wednesday, May 22, 2024
in Verona, NY, at the Turning Stone Resort.

Sponsorship opportunities are available, please see the letter for details, and if interested, please complete the sponsorship form with your selection and email to Kimberly Bennett, or give Kimberly a call to discuss options.

Please consider being a sponsor at this event! 

Thank you for your time and consideration!

This year, many of our 1-day training sessions are free to attend. We ask that when you are submitting your pre-registration forms that you complete them in their entirety, as we need all the information to process your registration. We appreciate your time and effort in submitting fully complete registration forms. There will not be an invoice sent for these free classes. We would like to ask that if you are unable to attend a training session, even the free classes, that you email our office (nyrwa@nyruralwater.org) to cancel at least 3 business days prior to the date of the class you are registered to attend. This will allow us to contact another student, so they can attend and receive their needed contact hours.   

Don't have time to spend traveling to sit in a class all day? The best place to receive renewal web-based training is at home or work, whichever your schedule allows. You can work at your own pace. SunCoast Learning Systems offers some great topics that will fit your certification requirement needs. Online courses are New York State approved and offer the flexibility and convenience you are looking for. For more information call 1-800-269-1181 or visit https://www.suncoastlearning.com/courses/ny.

• NYS OCFS Highland Residential Center

  
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