"Water resilience is the ability of water systems to function under conditions of shocks, stresses and changes in ways that allow nature and people to thrive." from Water and Climate Equity in Rural Water Systems in the United States
The Appalachian mountains are blessed with abundant rain. However, many people in Harlan County struggle to get affordable water and sewage service for their homes and businesses, whether because of a lack of connected systems or the age and degradation of those systems. Some residents turn on their tap only to get brown or orange water, if any.
The growing, unpredictable frequency of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and extreme temperatures are only exacerbating these problems. As the severe flood events throughout Appalachia have proven in the 2020s, this damaging to already aged and ill-maintained water and wastewater/sewage infrastructure is unsustainable.
This toolkit is dedicated to all community efforts to build water resilience in Harlan County.
In what follows, you can find information about what is in the toolkit, who created it and who it is for, why it is important, and how you can navigate this website.
The birth story of this toolkit
This toolkit is the second of a series of toolkits that LiKEN has developed to support community engagement and collaboration, as Appalachian communities are walking their own pathway towards building water and climate resilience.
The first toolkit is the Community Engagement Guide, which was created especially for people seeking to improve their water and wastewater systems - no matter what level of knowledge or involvement they have. It includes tips, suggestions, and resources on how and why to encourage and foster community involvement. Building off of that work, the Harlan County Water Resilience Toolkit was developed specifically for the multiple community water systems in the county. It contains condensed information that is applicable to the federal and state level while maintaining focused on information that is specific to Harlan County.
This Harlan County Water Resilience Toolkit tailors our learnings from more than three years of community-engaged work in Harlan County and its water and wastewater systems.
The aim of the Harlan County Water Resilience Toolkit is to provide open access information on the water and wastewater systems of Harlan County. It is designed to help all who have a stake or interest on resilient small rural water systems to:
know how Harlan County’s water and wastewater systems work, know what stresses, what hinders their operation, and what can go wrong,
know the responsibilities and obligations of those running the water and wastewater systems , as well as citizens or water consumers’ water rights and responsibilities,
know what discolored water can mean and what to do in case of an water-related emergency (e.g. water pollution or flooding).
Knowing your water and wastewater systems is critical for surviving a water crisis, whether the crisis is sudden or slowly occurring.
This kind of knowledge is also critical for contributing to building efforts of small rural water systems to withstand future water crises.
What is in the toolkit?
In this Water Resilience Toolkit, you can;
Understand the basics of how water is brought to Harlan County homes and how it is returned to the natural environment.
Find out about the different water sources and water systems of Harlan County, and what stresses can hinder their operation;
Learn about how water pollution, rising temperatures, and extreme weather events impact water systems.
Know who is responsible for the quality of your water supplies, what their duties and obligations are, and what the responsibilities of water ‘customers’ are, whether they are businesses or households.
Find relevant information on who to call and what to do when something seems wrong with your water, or in case of weather-related water and wastewater emergencies.
Who created this toolkit?
This toolkit was created by Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network (LiKEN), a non-profit organization based in Kentucky. LiKEN connects local knowledge with specialized expertise to support and empower communities and community organizations, as they build economic futures based on local assets, common values and shared visions.
The toolkit has been developed in the context of LiKEN’s Water Collaboratory program and the collaborative research project “Water Climate Equity” (WCE). The content of this toolkit was formed between 2022 to 2025, through an iterative process of knowledge sharing within community spaces and cross-sectoral forums of knowledge exchange, including the one formed with LiKEN’s research partners in the WCE project, Pacific Institute (PI) and Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP). It builds on long-term relationships and deep listening of the water stories shared by water operators and other water professionals, community members and civil society networks, city council and water board members, while also paying close attention to those most exposed to water risks.
Sources
Livelihoods Knowledge Exchange Network, “Water Collaboratory” in Programs.
Pacific Institute, “Water Climate Equity in Rural Communities in the United States”.
Who is the toolkit for?
This Water Resilience Toolkit is for everyone. It may be used by community leaders, members of water boards and city councils, or people who make decisions about community water and wastewater systems in Harlan County. But most of all, it is intended for residents and community members, whose power to direct water-related decisions may not feel obvious, yet it is very real. Times of water crises have shown that often community power comes from knowledge sharing, collaboration and collective action. The water story of the 2000 Slurry Spill in Martin County is a good example of how communities can change the ‘script’, when they insist on the safety, quality and reliability of water delivered to them.
Why is it important?
The Water Resilience Toolkit builds on local knowledge as well as on expert knowledge to respond to concerns and questions voiced by community members during more than two years of listening sessions organized by community journalists and community engagement coordinators trained by, and working for LiKEN.
Knowledge is power. And this power is crucial, especially now, as federal and state funding for under-served rural and urban communities is becoming more scarce. If decisions being made are to be feasible and successful in improving the nation’s water infrastructure, it is vital that communities have a say in the design and implementation of plans. Communities and local residents have valuable, first- hand knowledge to contribute, and have a direct stake in fair and affordable water and sewage services. When communities are ‘at the table’ when decisions are being made, they can help craft solutions that not only work, but also can be truly equitable.
This toolkit is important for yet another reason. As the country faces an unprecedented wave of water-related challenges —ranging from increased flooding to drought— communities are responding by coming together, as they always have, to support one another and tackle these crises. The resources in this toolkit are important for such collective efforts. Informed communities can build bridges of shared knowledge, laying strong foundations for collaboration between residents, nonprofit organizations, scholars, and government agencies. Staying informed is key to not just reacting to disasters, but to creating long-lasting solutions.
