Small Community Wastewater Alternatives

Section VIIIClassroom Exercises

Sample Exercises

1. Steering Committee

2. Roles and Responsibilities

3. Overcoming Obstacles

4. Data Collection

5. Value Creation (Social Marketing)

6. Moving to Action (Low hanging fruit)

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Identifying Stakeholders

• Stakeholders: parties with an interest in the outcome of a decision who have the ability to affect the implementation of a decision

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Types of Stakeholders• Decision-makers

– Primary: have ultimate decision-making authority– Secondary: have authority to make partial decisions

• Citizens– Primary: can challenge decisions individually– Secondary: can form coalitions to mount a

significant challenge

• Advisors - People who have information, but are not stakeholders

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Identifying Stakeholders

• Steering Committee Exercise 1:

Who to invite and why?

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Steering Committee

• Roles and Responsibilities Exercise 2:

Determining who does what

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Roles and Responsibilities Exercise 2

• Determining who does what and keeping them at it is a challenge.

• Have a coordinator as soon as possible. • Elicit strengths, interests, and available time

through questions or surveys.• Start small, don’t overwhelm folks.• At each step try to clearly delineate tasks and

activities.

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Facilitating Win-Win

• Overcoming Obstacles Exercise 3:

Gaining voluntary cooperation

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Wastewater Inventory

• Data Collection Exercise 4:

Develop additional survey questions to characterize non-residential onsite and cluster systems.

Group Brainstorming Exercise

See RCAP Solutions WW Survey handout

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Wastewater Inventory

• Data Collection Exercise 4:– Location– Flow– Unusual Strength?– System type– System condition (how determined?)– Other

Courtesy of Pace U. Land Use Training

Social Marketing• Drinking water systems need to market their

product to establish value• Bottled water gaining in sales largely due to

marketing as “pristine” or better-quality than municipal or private supplies

• Establishing value is about documenting and protecting high quality water supplies

• All activities that protect against contamination should be advertised and promoted

Social Marketing• Value Creation Exercise 5

How to generate more public faith in, and consumption of, municipal water?

Moving to Action

• Short-term Activities Exercise 6

What kinds of things can be accomplished with little to no money? (Low-hanging fruit)

Low-Cost Activities• Public/homeowner education • Promote non-toxic substitutes• Education of boards, planning and zoning, building

inspectors, CEO’s• Voluntary activities to work towards a management

district or entity• Coordinate with health dept. inspections• Cost-share programs, e.g. replace septic systems• Related projects: watershed planning; flood or

drought protection planning