The Basic Guidelines would be appropriate for those systems not being assisted by the state under the Capacity-Development Approach. 6 Technical capacity is the physical and operational ability of a water system to meet SDWA requirements. Technical capacity refers to the physical infrastructure of the water system, including the adequacy of source water and the adequacy of treatment, storage, and distribution infrastructure. It also refers to the ability of system personnel to adequately operate and maintain the system and to otherwise implement requisite technical knowledge. Managerial capacity is the ability of a water system to conduct its affairs in a manner enabling the system to achieve and maintain compliance with SDWA requirements.
Managerial capacity refers to the system's institutional and administrative capabilities.
Financial capacity is a water system's ability to acquire and manage sufficient financial resources to allow the system to achieve and maintain compliance with SDWA requirements. Several basic conservation practices can be directly linked to these basic elements of capacity, as summarized in Table 1-4. As these linkages suggest, the conservation measures identified as basic actually can be interpreted much more broadly. These practices are considered reasonably appropriate for all community water systems because they correspond to some of the basic elements of capacity as well. States should provide technical assistance to water systems to help them implement at least the basic elements of a conservation program as shown in Table 1-4.