Rural Alaska water utilities face Dec. 31 deadline for sanitation funding scores

Rural Alaska water and sewer utilities have until 11:59 pm Dec. 31 to turn in the paperwork for their Operations and Maintenance Best Practices scores, the state Division of Community and Regional Affairs reminded them Tuesday.

Those scores help decide which communities get state and federal money for water and sewer projects, and in what order. Some Alaska villages still rely on honey buckets and haul wagons for basic sanitation.

A utility's score accounts for 40% of the possible points when the state ranks water and sewer construction projects, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation. It counts for 15% when Indian Health Service projects are ranked.

The score rates whether a utility can run and maintain its system, looking at its technical, managerial and financial capacity. The state has used it to rank sanitation projects since mid-2015, according to the division's Rural Utility Business Advisor program.

For the spring 2027 scores, utilities need to send their local government specialist at the division:

• Minutes from December 2025 through November 2026 showing the governing body met as its ordinance or bylaws require, and proof the minutes were approved

• Monthly water operator reports

• Monthly financial reports, on a cash basis, that the governing body reviewed and approved

• Proof of payments into a repair-and-replacement account

• Every budget and budget amendment for that period

The division has posted a checklist. Scores come out in mid-March, and the Department of Environmental Conservation posts each community's current score online.