OCS DCL-2022-06 OCS Celebrates World Water Day FY2022

Office of Community Services

Dear Colleague Letter

DCL#:                                OCS-DCL-2022-06

DATE:                               March 22, 2022

TO:                                     Office of Community Services’ Grant Recipients, Partners, and Stakeholders

SUBJECT:                       Join OCS in Celebrating World Water Day

ATTACHMENT(S):        N/A

Dear Colleagues,

The Office of Community Services (OCS) is pleased to announce today’s celebration of World Water Day. To mark the celebration, OCS’ Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) and Rural Community Development (RCD) Program are excited to announce the launch of several new webpages and resources.

We invite you to view OCS’ World Water Day webpage, which highlights both the LIHWAP and RCD programs and OCS’ commitment to supporting access to safe and affordable water and wastewater services for vulnerable communities.  

The Low Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP)

LIHWAP provides funds to assist low-income households with water and wastewater services. LIHWAP is being implemented by 49 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, U.S. Territories, and over 100 Federally and state-recognized Native American tribes and tribal organizations.

Check out the LIHWAP website for updates, resources, and activities to celebrate LIHWAP’s vital efforts to ensure American households have access to safe and affordable drinking water and wastewater services. Additionally, OCS has released the following resources that tell the story of how LIHWAP is impacting communities across the nation: 

• These beneficiary spotlight videos highlight the impact LIHWAP has had in North Carolina and Iowa .
• This World Water Day Fact Sheet which gives an overview of World Water Day and LIHWAP.

In addition to the LIHWAP program and World Water Day websites mentioned above, please visit the following to learn more about LIHWAP:

• Read about current LIHWAP projects
• Find out how to participate in LIHWAP

The Rural Community Development (RCD) Program

The RCD Program builds community capacity for creating and maintaining safe and affordable water and wastewater systems for the nation’s unincorporated areas and lowest income communities. RCD serves very small communities in sparsely populated areas made up predominately of residents with low income who lack safe water and wastewater treatment services and often even indoor plumbing.

Check out the new RCD Program: Bringing Safe Water to Our Nation’s Communities webpage which highlights the impact of the RCD Program on communities, including tribal and persistent poverty areas. Additionally, learn more about RCD by visiting the RCD Program webpage and reading about some of RCD’s active projects around the country!

We hope that you will join us in celebrating World Water Day as well as our collective efforts to create resilient communities that help to address the needs of our nation’s most vulnerable individuals and families.

Thank you for your attention to these matters. OCS looks forward to continuing to provide high-quality services to OCS grantees.