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1. Study Purpose and Introduction 1.1 What is the Purpose and Design of this Study? One of the most common types of water systems in rural areas is the private nonprofit water systems (PNPWSs). Those systems often include homeowners associations, water-user associations, or private nonprofit water companies. One of the key findings from the Statewide Water Supply Initiative (SWSI) report, which the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) delivered to the state legislature in 2004, was that rural water systems need increased access to funding to meet their needs into the future. The CWCB is currently able to fund PNPWS projects, but is limited by statute to loaning only for raw water needs (those involving water supply, before treatment or distribution). Recognizing that PNPWSs currently are excluded from access to some sources of funding administered by the state, the CWCB, with support from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Water Quality Control Division (WQCD), is interested in understanding the magnitude of funding needs ofPNPWSs into the future and the nature of the current gap in available funding in order to begin coordinated planning to meet rural water system needs. This study was designed to gather information from a variety of sources to gain a wide perspective on potential funding needs for PNPWSs. Part of the study approach was to interview a selection of PNPWSs directly, selecting mostly from PNPWSs that attended workshops in 2006 and 2007 on technical, managerial, and financial (TMF) assistance for small water systems. These systems were interviewed regarding their short-term (up to 5 years from now) and long- term (6-20 years) needs for funding. The study team estimated the short-term funding needs by combining responses from the interviews with PNPWSs, with funding needs identified in the 2007 version of the CDPHE's Drinking Water Grant Program eligibility list, which also listed projects and estimated dollar amounts for PNPWSs. The purpose of gathering estimates of funding needs by project was to demonstrate the magnitude of the possible short-term needs for this type of system, not to identify a complete list of the total funding needs for PNPWSs in Colorado. The current study also asked PNPWSs to qualitatively rank their long-term needs according to water system function (supply, treatment, storage, and distribution). This ranking was designed to indicate the relative importance of future raw water needs relative to the other major water system functional areas. SCl1199 The study gathered information from many of the organizations that have contact with this type of water system in Colorado in order to help complete the picture. The organizations interviewed for this study included CDPHE, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development, the Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC), Colorado Rural Water, the Colorado Water Resources and Power