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Source Water Protection

March 31, 2022 | Online

Sponsored by EUCI

Click Here to Register ($895)

If you are unable to attend at the scheduled date and time, we make recordings available to all registrants for three business days after the event

Overview

Source Water Protection is a volunteer planning process conducted by local water utilities, as well as regional or national government agencies, to protect drinking water sources from overuse and contamination. This course will explore the elements of source water protection planning, sources of contamination and assessment of current supply sources, action planning as well as resources for collaboration and outreach and implementation.  We will review source water case studies from across the nation to build understanding of best management practices, funding options and alternative water sources.  

This course provides information to help States, Tribes, and others increase their capability to implement the 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments, which will, in turn, promote better compliance and greater public health protection. The goal of this course is to bring together source water protection and watershed subject matter, agencies that own or manage property within a watershed, and the utilities that rely on that water as a drinking water source. This will be an opportunity for participants to share and learn together to gain understanding about how planning and projects within the watershed impact public drinking water systems, and the importance of source water and wellhead protection.

Learning Outcomes

  • Increase awareness of past and current source water protection issues
  • Uncover data necessary to evaluate your system’s source water protection needs
  • Utilize industry tools to enhance the protection of your water sources
  • Organize source water protection plan development
  • Identify potential contaminants to source water
  • Become familiar with your supply sources and potential sources
  • Assess your source water adequacy and redundancy
  • Evaluate if your system needs site improvements or a new source location
  • Record necessary well and pump data and conduct routine checks and inspections
  • Implement sanitary protection of source properties through security checks and improvements, best management practices, and physical improvements

Agenda

THURSDAY, MARCH 31, 2022

9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central Time

What is Source Water Protection?

  • Types of Source Water
  • Public Drinking Water
  • Water Quality
  • Safe Drink Water Act

Water Sources

  • Groundwater
    1. Recharge and movement
    2. Adequacy and source capacity
    3. Calculated Fixed Radius (CFR) Method
  • Surface Water
    1. Capture zones
    2. Adequacy and redundancy
    3. Source water protection area

Identifying Sources of Contamination

  • Non-point source pollution
  • Point source pollution
  • Source water protection strategies

Emergency and Alternative Sources

  • Flooding
  • Spills and contaminant releases (national regulations and additional state studies)
  • Other: vegetation, security, vandalism
  • Drinking Water Source Protection Coordination

Lunch Break

Regulatory Basis for Source Water Protection

  • U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
  • Farm Service Agency (FSA)
  • State-level divisions of environmental protection
  • Source Water Protection Plans (SWPP)
  • National Rural Water Association (NRWA)
  • Resources:
    1. AWWA G300 Standard
    2. EPA 9 Element Plans

Case Studies

  • Niagara Falls, Love Canal Tragedy
  • Times Beach Missouri, Dioxin Scare
  • PG&E Hinckley, CA

Elements of a Source Water Protection Plan

  • Local planning team
  • Gather information
  • Identify and map capture zones
  • Inventory potential contaminant sources
  • Develop source water protection area
  • Water Supply Hydrology
    1. Groundwater modeling
    2. Calculating the hydrologic gradient

Advanced Source Water Protection Strategies

  • Acquisition/control
  • Communication
  • Educational opportunities
  • Land use regulations
    1. Overlay zoning
    2. Site plan review
    3. Subdivision regulations
    4. Other laws
  • Partnerships
  • Forestry
  • Agriculture
  • Infrastructure improvements
  • Non-Regulatory strategies
  • Water conservation

Funding Sources

  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • State funding
  • Clean Water State Revolving Fund
  • Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS)
  • Source Water Collaborative

Investing in source water protection