National Rural Water Association represents over  24,558 small communities in state rural water associations.

From the local community perspective, NRWA initiatives comprise the most effective environmental protection efforts for drinking water and wastewater quality, groundwater protection, source water protection, and compliance with federal mandates from the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), and other federal laws.

Rural and small communities want to ensure quality drinking water and wastewater. After all, local water supplies are operated by people who are locally elected and whose families drink the water every day. However, they need common-sense assistance in a form they can understand. Many small communities rely on volunteers or part-time administrators to operate their local water supplies.

Each state’s rural water association is composed of small nonprofit water systems and small towns.  Average membership is approximately 400 to 500 communities per state, with systems from all geographic areas. These are active members, who continuously participate in the training and technical assistance program in an effort to improve the quality of their drinking water.

NRWA's efforts are truly unique in the federal effort to protect the environment because it accomplishes progressive environmental protection with the support of the local community. Having local community support for environmental protection is essential to long-term success.