Source Water Protection project under way

By Patrice Roesler
Deputy Director

A group of approximately 40 stakeholders met for the first time Aug. 31 to begin discussions about protecting the state's source waters under a new federal grant program funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). North Carolina is one of three states that have been selected for the program, along with Oregon and Utah.

Under the leadership of the Public Water Supply Section of the N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), the Source Water Protection Program is responsible for assessing all public drinking water sources for susceptibility to contamination. The program also coordinates with other state agencies to create protection strategies for the state's more than 9,300 sources of public drinking water.

"Source water" is the untreated water from streams, rivers, lakes or groundwater aquifers that are sources of drinking water. Any water supply system having at least 15 service connections or 25 consumers is considered a "public drinking water system" and is regulated by the state. The stakeholder group involved with the project will focus primarily on the state's public drinking water sources.

According to Public Water Supply Section data, 63 percent of the state's population derives its drinking water from surface water, while 18 percent depends upon a public groundwater source. Another 19 percent derives its drinking water from private wells.

"North Carolina will experience a 30 percent increase in population by 2030," said Robin Smith, DENR assistant secretary for the environment. "The challenges we face include emerging contaminants, water availability, and the economic costs of providing clean water to this growing population."

Currently, more than 7 million citizens in the state get their water from a public water supply source.

The role of the new stakeholder group is to identify issues that pose barriers to protecting the state's source waters and to generate tools and technical assistance that will support local protection strategies. The group is modeled after a national collaborative established through the EPA that includes the National Association of Counties.

A national team has been assembled to provide assistance to the North Carolina group. As part of that team, Caryn Ernst of the National Trust for Public Lands and Elizabeth Schilling of the Smart Growth Leadership Institute facilitated discussions during which participants identified what motivates their organizations' members to care about drinking water. They then led working group sessions to identify challenges and incentives for their members to encourage behaviors that protect the source waters.

The national staff talked about how states in the Northeast are approaching similar source water issues. For example, Massachusetts awards points in grant funding for meeting identified smart growth planning standards. Rhode Island reduces the interest rate charged on water and sewer loans if the local government agrees to provide a conservation easement, and uses savings from the reduced interest rate to fund the easement acquisition.

The next steps in the Enabling Source Water Protection Project will involve personal interviews with each of the stakeholder representatives and a consolidation of the recommendations that were identified by the group for further refinement at a subsequent meeting. End products include Web-based tools and resources to support the source water protection efforts of local officials.

GIS tools are already available to help local officials identify and prioritize drinking water protection projects. To view your public water supply sources, wellhead protection areas, groundwater assessment areas, surface water assessment areas, and database of potential contaminants, visit the Source Water Protection and Assessment home page at swap.deh.enr.state.nc.us/swap/ and click the "NC Swap Info" button at the bottom of the page.