Introduction to EPAS Drinking Water Source Protection Programs

1
Introduction to EPAS Drinking Water Source
Protection Programs
2
Drinking Water Academy

• Introductory modules
• Overview of the Safe Drinking Water Act
• Introduction to EPAs Drinking Water Source
  Protection Programs
• Introduction to the Underground Injection Control
  Program
• Introduction to the Public Water Supply
  Supervision Program
• Regulatory modules
• Technical modules

3
Objectives of Introduction to Source Water
Protection

• Explain the concept of source water protection
  and program components
• Describe types of State and local measures for
  protection
• Describe interrelationships with Clean Water Act
  programs
• Explain funding mechanisms

4
Sources of Drinking Water and the Hydrologic Cycle
5
Class Discussion

• Name as many sources of drinking water as possible

6
Sources of Water
unsaturated soil
unsaturated soil
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Types of Openings In Selected Water-Bearing Rocks
3 Millimeters
20 Meters
Pores in unconsolid- ated sedimentary deposits
Caverns in limestone and dolomite
1 Meter
1 Meter
Rubble zone and cooling fractures in extrusive
igneous rocks
Fractures in intrusive igneous rocks
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RIVER
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The Relationship of Ground Water and Surface Water
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Paths of Water Flow Within Watershed
Precipitation
1
3
Stream
2
1.Overland Flow 2. Ground Water Flow 3.
Shallow Subsurface Storm Flow
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Precipitation
Evapotranspiration
Pumping Well
Surface Runoff
Recharge
Lake
Lake
Plant Uptake
Aquifer
Ground Water / Surface Water Interaction
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Threats to Sources of Drinking Water
14
Vulnerability and Sensitivity of Drinking Water
Sources

• Surface water
• Runoff
• Ground water infiltration
• Ground water
• Infiltration from the surface
• Injection of contaminants
• Naturally occurring substances

15
What Health Effects Can Contaminated Source Water
Cause?

• Acute health effects
• Chronic health effects

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What Contaminants Cause Acute Health Effects?

• Parasites, protozoa or cysts
• Nitrate

• Viruses (e.g., Norwalk virus)
• Bacteria (e.g., Shigella, E.Coli)

Parasite - Cryptosporidium
Warning Sign About Dangers of Nitrate
Parasite - Giardia Lamblia
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What Contaminants Cause Chronic Health Effects?

• Volatile organic chemicals (VOCs)
• Inorganic chemicals (IOCs)
• Synthetic organic chemicals (SOCs)

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Sources of Contamination
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What Does Ground Water Contamination Look Like?
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What Does Surface Water Contamination Look Like?
21
What Are the Sources of Contaminants With Acute
Health Effects?
Shari Ring Clipart from WP 8 CD in \animals\farm\

• Industrial activities
• Animal feeding operations
• Agriculture
• Septic systems and cesspools

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Example Septic Systems and Nitrogen and Viral
Loading
Av. N 35- 40 mg/l
Septic Systems Do Not Treat Wastewater
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On-Site Septic Hydraulic Failure
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What are the Sources of Contaminants with Chronic
Health Effects?
Shari Ring Clipart from WP 8 CD
environm\destruct\hdrds

• Industrial and commercial activities
• Agriculture
• Landfills and surface impoundments
• Urban uses

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Example Industrial Contamination
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Source Water Assessments
27
What is a Source Water Assessment?
28
SWAPs and Tribes

• By 2005, 40 percent of the population served by
  Tribal community water systems will receive their
  water from systems with source water assessments
  and, where needed, source water protection
  programs in place
• Tribes are encouraged to prepare SWAPs, but it is
  not required by law
• EPA will provide technical and financial support
  to interested Tribes

29
Source Water Assessments as the Basis of
Protection

• Provide important information about potential
  risks posed to drinking water
• May be used by local entities to prioritize
  protection activities

30
Elements of State SWAPs
Shari Ring Image from EPA WWW

• Public participation in developing SWAP
• Plan to delineate areas, inventory contaminants,
  determine susceptibility
• Timetable for implementation, agencies involved,
  plan to update assessments
• Plan to make the results of assessments available
  to the public

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SWPA Delineations for Surface Water-Based Systems
Shari Ring Graphic by Cadmus fro SWP guidance
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SWPA Delineations for Ground Water-Based Systems
Shari Ring Image from www.epa.gov/ogwdw/Pubs/02gr
ound.html
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Contamination Source Inventories

• Identify contaminants of concern
• Identify significant potential sources

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Contamination Source Inventories

• Start with a broad review
• Use Federal, State, and local databases
• Narrow with on-the-ground surveys

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Susceptibility Determinations
Shari Ring Image from EPA WWW
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Making Assessments Available to the Public
Surf Your Water shed
Source Water Assessment Results
LIBRARY
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Updating Source Water Assessments

• New items to consider
• Newly regulated contaminants
• New PWSs, intakes, or wastewater discharges
• Changes in land use
• Local information

38
Plan a Source Water Assessment

• A Group Exercise

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The Concept of Source Water Protection

• State and Local Frameworks
• to Protect Sources of Drinking Water

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Benefits of Source Water Protection
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Avoid Costs of Contamination

• Quantifiable costs treatment and remediation
  finding and replacing water supplies public
  information campaigns regulatory compliance
  loss of property value and tax revenue
• Less quantifiable costs health costs lost
  productivity lost economic development
  opportunities lost consumer confidence

43
Contamination Is Expensive

• A community may spend millions of dollars
  responding to contamination

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Saving Money Through Prevention

• Cost savings by complying with standards
• Monitoring waivers
• Water as a commodity or raw material -- quality
  matters

45
Other Economic Benefits

• Real estate values
• Business development
• Tax revenues
• Jobs
• Recreation and tourism revenue

46
Still More Economic Benefits

• BMPs are standard operating procedures that can
  reduce the threats that activities at homes,
  businesses, agriculture, and industry can pose to
  water supplies
• BMPs can increase the aesthetic beauty and value
  of residential and commercial properties

Detention pond
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Non-Monetary Benefits
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Health Benefits

• Reduce risk to human health
• Illnesses and death
• Productivity and wages
• Medical expenses

49
Quality of Life Benefits

• Safeguarding resources for future generations
• Building confidence in the water supply
• Healthy ecosystems and recreational benefits

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The Costs of Prevention

• Vary based on the prevention measures selected
• Differ from community to community

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Comparing Costs and Benefits

• Responding to contamination can be as much as 200
  times as costly as prevention

52
SWP Is Worth It
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Federal Source Water Protection Programs
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Historical EPA Ground Water and UIC Programs

• Underground Injection Control program
• Sole Source Aquifer program
• Wellhead Protection program
• Source Water Petition programs

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What Is a Sole Source Aquifer?

• Supplies at least 50 percent of the drinking
  water consumed in the area overlying the aquifer
• No physically, legally, and economically-available
  alternative drinking water source exists

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Sole Source Aquifer Program (continued)

• Any person or organization may petition EPA to
  designate an aquifer as a sole source
• 70 designated sole source aquifers as of February
  2000

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Significance of the Sole Source Aquifer Program

• EPA reviews Federally-funded projects
• Information from SSA designation can help
  delineate SWPAs
• SSAs can raise community awareness
• SWAPs can help evaluate candidate SSAs

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Significance of the UIC Program

• The Underground Injection Control programs
  mission is to protect underground sources of
  drinking water from contamination by regulating
  the construction and operation of injection wells

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What Is Wellhead Protection?
Shari Ring Image from EPA WWW

• Protection of ground water sources
• Authorized by SDWA Section 1428 of the 1986
  amendments
• EPA-approved, State-designed wellhead protection
  plans can receive Federal funding to protect
  ground water sources
• Requirements for Federal compliance

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Wellhead Protection
Plan for the future
Choose management tools
Inventory contamination sources
Delineate the WHPA
Form a team
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Drinking Water WellZone of Contribution
Plan View
Profile View
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WHP Significance - Most CWSs Use Ground Water
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What Is the SWP Petition Program?

• SDWA Section 1454
• State-administered, voluntary program
• Supports local SWP efforts
• May use DWSRF funds
• EPA developed guidance

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Source Water Protection and the NPDWRs

• Surface water treatment rule
• Interim enhanced surface water treatment rule
• Disinfectants/disinfection byproducts rule
• Class V UIC rule

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Source Water Protection and the NPDWRs

• Consumer Confidence Report rule
• Ground water rule

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Source Water Protection and PWSS Programs

• Interim monitoring relief (Section 1418(a))
• Permanent monitoring relief and alternative
  monitoring guidelines (Section 1418(b))

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Source Water Protection and PWSS Programs

• Capacity development (Section 1420)
• Operator certification (Section 1419)
• Sanitary surveys

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Emergency Powers

• Available to any SDWA program under Section 1431
• EPA may take enforcement action if a contaminant
  in drinking water presents an imminent and
  substantial endangerment to public health

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EPA Source Water Protection Initiatives

• Source Water Contamination Prevention Strategy
• National Rural Water Association
• Environmental Finance Center Network

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Source Water Protection and the Clean Water Act
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Source Water Protection and the Clean Water Act

• Point sources or non-point sources
• National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System
  (NPDES)
• Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
• Water quality standards

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Source Water Protection and the Clean Water Act

• Linkages to CWA programs
• Program support
• Information exchange

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How Does It All Fit Together?
CLEAN WATER ACTION PLAN/ WATERSHED APPROACH
SOURCE WATER PROTECTION
Ground Water Protection
Surface Water Protection
Source Water Assessments and Unified Watershed
Assessments
Sole Source Aquifer Program
Wellhead Protection
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Other Federal Source Protection Programs
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Other Federal Source Protection Programs

• See http//www.epa.gov/safewater/
  protect/feddata.html for a list of Federal data
  sources related to source water protection

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State and Local Measures to Protect Source Water
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State Approaches to Source Water Protection

• Regulatory requirements
• Grant and loan programs
• Surface water and watershed approaches

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State Regulatory Approaches

• Location and siting standards
• Underground storage tank requirements
• Storm water regulations
• Wetlands regulations
• State environmental protection statutes
• Spill control activities
• Water quality standards
• Pesticide management plans

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State Funding Options

• Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
• Clean Water State Revolving Fund
• Section 319
• Section 604(b)
• Section 104(b)(3)

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Current State Surface Water and Watershed
Approaches

• Collecting information and using data according
  to CWA Sections 303(d), 305(b), 319, and 320

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Current State Surface Water and Watershed
Approaches

• Working with EPA and Federal agencies to compile
  diverse data on water quality
• Preparing SWAPs
• Conducting studies and other activities

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Local Tools and Techniques for Source Water
Protection

• Impose by regulation
• Encourage through non-regulatory means
• Combine approaches as appropriate given
  site-specific considerations

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Selecting Management Measures

• Land use controls
• Regulations and permits
• Structural measures
• Good housekeeping practices
• Public education
• Land management
• Water conservation
• Ground water monitoring
• Emergency response planning

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Land Use Controls

• Subdivision growth controls
• Zoning
• Acquisition of development rights
• Land purchase
• Land use prohibitions

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Subdivision Growth Controls

• Primary purpose is to control division of land
  into lots suitable for building
• Can protect drinking water supplies from
• Septic system effluent
• Storm water runoff

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Zoning
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Overlay Zoning District
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Cluster and Planned Unit Development

• Cluster development
• More development in less space
• Encourages greater protected space
• Planned unit development
• Diverse land uses in contained land area
• Reduces infrastructure costs

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Transfer of Development Rights

• Land owner can separate right to develop the land
  from other rights associated with the land
• Rights can be sold, given away, limited
  (intentionally or by regulation) OR
• Rights can be transferred

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Development Agreement Contract between a Land
Owner and Government Agency

• Benefits to the landowner
• Freezing local regulations
• Expediting the permitting process
• Gaining public support
• Benefits to the local government
• Reducing claims of a taking
• Strengthening leverage to obtain public benefit
• Ensuring compliance with contract law

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Tools for Land Acquisition and Protection

• Donations
• Sale
• Market value
• Bargain sale
• Conservation easements
• Other restrictions on land use

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Land Acquisition and Protection
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Land Use Prohibitions
What type of uses might you prohibit?

• Gas stations
• Landfills
• Industries that produce, store or dispose of
  hazardous chemicals
• Facilities requiring large water withdrawals

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Regulations and Permits

• Construction and operating standards
• Permit requirements
• Performance standards
• Public health regulations
• Wetlands ordinances

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Construction and Operating Standards
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Permit Requirements

• Local authorities can require permits
• Permit fees can help recover program costs
• Permits can be site-specific
• Inspections enforce permit requirements

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Special or Conditional Use Permits
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Performance Standards

• Development must perform according to certain
  standards, however, the means are not prescribed
• For example, standards could address
• Nitrogen loading
• Overall relative risk

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Public Health Regulations

• Underground storage tanks
• Construction standards
• Leak testing
• Septic systems
• Number and size in a given area
• Siting, setback distances and construction
• Maintenance standards
• Floor drains

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Wetlands Ordinances

• Natural vegetated buffers
• Limits on surface water discharges
• Erosion and sedimentation control
• Restrictions on pesticides and fertilizers

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Structural Measures

• Constructed systems or devices
• Vegetative measures

Photo Texas Chapter, APWA
Filter strip
Sheltered above ground tank farm
103
Constructed Systems or Devices

• Automatic shut-off and leak detection devices on
  USTS
• Secondary containment
• Drainage diversion
• Segregated floor drains
• Waste collection devices

104
Vegetative Measures
Photo Texas Chapter, APWA
Swales
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Good Housekeeping Practices

• Equipment operation and maintenance
• Product storage, use and handling
• Waste storage and disposal
• May be required by local ordinances or health
  regulations

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Public Education

• Informational meetings
• Advertisements, flyers and posters
• Questionnaires
• Demonstration projects
• Community and school events
• Consumer Confidence Reports

107
Responsible Land Management
Contour strip farming
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Water Conservation

• Limiting water withdrawals preserves water
  supplies
• Useful in reducing
• Salt water intrusion in coastal areas
• Rate of contaminant transport in a contaminated
  plume
• Conservation can be achieved by individual
  effort this is also a limitation

109
Water Conservation

• Water rights issues can be a disincentive to
  conserve water
• Rights to conserved water may be lost
• Some States now allow users to retain their
  rights to conserved water

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Ground Water Monitoring

• Assess source water quality
• Detect potential problems early
• Evaluate program effectiveness

111
Emergency Response Planning
What if..?
112
This graphic shows the boundaries of the
watershed for the Canoe River, the aquifer,
and the town. Multiple jurisdictions must
work together to protect common natural resource
boundaries.

Canoe River Aquifer District
Town Boundary
Watershed Boundary
Canoe River
Aquifer
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Identify Source Water Protection Measures

• A Group Exercise

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Funding for Source Water Protection

• How Do We Pay For These Programs?

116
DWSRF Set-Asides
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State Ground Water Program Grants

• Authorized under Section 1429 of the 1996 SDWA
  Amendments
• These funds have never been appropriated
• Ground water programs currently funded under CWA
  Section 106

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Other Funding Sources

• CWA funding
• Clean Water State Revolving Fund
• Funding under Sections 104(b)(3), 106, 319, and
  604(b)
• EPA Environmental Education grants

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Where Do We Go From Here?