Source Water Assessment and Protection It’s your drinking water – get to know and protect it.

Overview Source water is the untreated water used to supply drinking water The Safe Drinking Water Act required all states to conduct source water assessments for public drinking water systems Identify source of drinking water Identify potential contaminants Determine whether contaminants may impact the source Make assessments available to the public Assessments should lead to protection efforts Source water: aquifers springs rivers streams lakes Supply private wells and public drinking water systems Potential contaminants are substances and land uses that may contaminate source water but are not necessarily contaminating the source at the moment. Source water protection includes: Developing and implementing strategies, programs, and laws to keep potential contaminants away from a drinking water source Developing action plans for drinking water emergencies, contamination events, or water system failure. Source water protection for groundwater-based systems is also called wellhead protection. Water from private wells is not monitored, tested, or regulated by any public entity. Dependence on private well water means that the well owner needs to take responsibility for knowing about the quality of the water and safeguarding it from contamination. Good Water. Good Health. Good Choices.

Did You Know? 94% of Nebraska’s public water systems use groundwater as their source of drinking water Public water systems provide water to approximately 80% of Nebraskans Preventing contamination is cost-effective Source water protection is voluntary A total of 1,374 public water systems are operating in Nebraska. (statistics taken from the 2002 Annual Report of the Nebraska Public Water System Program) Private domestic wells also provide water for Nebraskans. You may obtain a copy of your public water system’s source water assessment by contacting your local water system or the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality. Preventing contamination of water supplies is one of the most cost-effective ways of assuring safe drinking water supplies. Contaminated water is usually very expensive and in some cases impossible to clean. Source water protection is completely voluntary. Local leadership is completely responsible for developing and implementing source water protection activities. A variety of resources and technical assistance are available to communities interested in developing and implementing source water protection activities. Good Water. Good Health. Good Choices.

What You Can Do On Your Own Drinking water protection is up to individuals Individuals can protect source water by making sure all potential contaminants under their control are kept away from drinking water sources Choices made by each of us, whether in our personal or work roles, have the potential to do a great deal to protect drinking water sources. For example, homeowners choose how to dispose of leftover paint or chemicals, homeowners and farmers choose how and when to apply pesticides on their land, and business owners chose which chemicals to use and how to dispose of them. Good Water. Good Health. Good Choices.

What You Can Do In Your Community Learn about the information provided in your source water assessment Double check the information provided in the assessment Form a team or group to develop protection activities and emergency plans Be a good neighbor Communities, which could actually be defined as multiple communities or a watershed or any other configuration determined locally, can start source water protection efforts by learning about the information provided in their source water assessment(s). In some cases, community members may want to double-check the information provided in the assessment(s), particularly information about the location and type of potential contamination in the area. By understanding where your drinking water comes from and the potential threats to it, you and other community members can then begin to develop protection activities and emergency plans to protect their source water. Communities can use regulatory or nonregulatory approaches to source water protection. Regulatory approaches: zoning ordinances health regulations subdivision control regulations. Non-regulatory approaches: community education land acquisition A local group, such as a Groundwater Guardian team, can provide structure, manpower, and motivation to plan and implement source water protection activities. For more information about the Groundwater Guardian program, contact The Groundwater Foundation at 1-800-858-4844 or visit our website at http://www.groundwater.org/gg/gg.htm. In some cases you may live or work in someone else’s source water area. Be a good neighbor by protecting sources of drinking water, even though you may not be the one drinking it! Good Water. Good Health. Good Choices.

Contacts Insert local contact information The Groundwater Foundation P.O. Box 22558 Lincoln, NE 68542-2558 402-434-2740 www.groundwater.org Insert your local contact information. Good Water. Good Health. Good Choices.