Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection: Regulatory Requirements & Case Studies Bryony Stasney, L.Hg., Source Water Quality Lead Heather Cannon, Regional Planner Eastern Regional Operations Office of Drinking Water

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 2 Mission To protect the health of the people of Washington State by ensuring safe and reliable drinking water.

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 3 Source Water Protection Outline  Regulatory framework  Planning  Implementation  Case studies

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 4 Public Water System Classification  Group A – 4,000 (serve 98% of WA)  15 or more connections  25 or more people per day for 60 or more days per year  Group B – 13,000 (serve 2% of WA)  Less than 15 connections  Serve water less than 60 days per year  Private wells – individual wells

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 5 Group A Public Water Systems  Regulated by  Federal Safe Drinking Water Act  State Drinking Water Regulations  DOH Office of Drinking Water (ODW)  Implements and enforces regulations  Provides technical assistance  Source Water Protection  Required for all Group A systems

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 6 Group B Public Water Systems  Not subject to Federal regulations  ODW has agreements with many county health departments to regulate Group B systems  Source Water Protection  100 ft radius sanitary control area  Identify potential contaminant sources within 600 ft of source

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 7 Private Water Systems  Individual wells serving one residence  Not subject to State regulations  Regulated at the local level e.g., building permits

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Relationship Between Group A’s and Group B’s  Group B and individual wells represent a potential source of contamination for Group A aquifers and should be considered in any protection strategy  Group A source water protection will likely protect some Group B and individual wells 8

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection Regulations for Group A systems  Federal: Safe Drinking Water Act  Wellhead Protection Program  1996 amendments - Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP)  State: Chapter WAC  Source approval  Planning 9

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 10 Source Water Protection Source Approval  For new Group A sources, both wells and surface water, WAC requires basic source water protection elements for source approval

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 11 Source Water Protection Planning Requirements  Required to prepare:  Water System Plan or  Small Water System Management Program &  Source Water Protection Plan A source water protection plan is either…  included in the WSP or SWSMP  a separate plan

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection WAC  Groundwater WAC (2&3)  Sanitary control area  Susceptibility assessment  Wellhead protection areas (time of travel zones)  Contaminant inventory  Notification to contaminant source owner/operators, regulatory agencies, and emergency responders  Contingency plan  Update every two years 12

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection WAC cont.  Surface Water WAC (4)  Watershed description including hydrology  Contaminant inventory  Control measures – ownership or agreements  System operations & emergency plan  Water quality trends  Update every six years 13

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water What is Source Water Protection?  Planning process that emphasizes protection of:  Prevent loss of drinking water quality and quantity  Focus on prevention because of cost and difficulty to replace source 14  Wellhead  Aquifer  Surface water  Watershed

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Benefits of Source Water Protection Source protection is first line of defense in “multiple-barrier” protection approach  Public health protection  Prevent emergencies  Economic benefits  Environmental benefits  Public confidence 15

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection Steps Form a team Identify protection areas Inventory contamination sources Develop a plan with actions Implement plan 16

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Protection Areas 17  Calculated fixed  Groundwater flow modeling

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Potential Contaminant Sources  Industrial and commercial activities  Animal feeding operations  Agriculture  Septic systems  Underground storage tanks  Group B and individual wells  Landfills  Stormwater 18

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Plan Must Include Actions Action is Critical for Protection!  Sanitary and watershed control Land acquisition / easements Restrictive covenants  Land use controls  Best management practices  Monitoring  Water conservation  Emergency preparedness and response plan  Public education 21

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Implement the Plan  Develop a schedule  Assign responsible party for each action  Carry out actions according to schedule  Track progress  Measure results  Re-evaluate every 2 years 22

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Washington’s Source Water Protection Program 23  Program elements  Online GIS map – SWAP  Outreach and assistance  Coordinate with other agencies  Grant program  Program goal  Empower you to achieve protection!

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Source Water Protection Grant Program 24  Provides up to $30,000 for implementing high-priority actions identified in a plan  Land acquisition and protection  Studies  Monitoring  Education  GIS work

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Case Study: Freeman School District 25 New well site

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Case Study: Tumwater  Solvents exceeding MCL  Expensive studies  Well replacement over $800,000  Adopted ordinances regulating location of certain businesses 26

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Case Study: Island County Clean Water District  Sole source aquifer  Heavy development pressures – including Group B’s and individual wells  Lack of funding to carry out critical environmental and public health duties  Created special purpose funding district 27

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Case Study: City of Vancouver 28  Chrome plating and dry cleaning businesses, and leaking storage tanks threatened sole source aquifer  Adopted aquifer protection ordinance prohibiting discharges, and requiring chemical disclosure, inspections, and Best Management Practices

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Case Study: SAJB Wellhead Protection  Sole source aquifer  Groundwater flow model update  $30,000 DOH grant  Model Idaho portion of the aquifer 29  Fine tune model  Better protect the aquifer from stormwater impacts and other threats

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water Take Away Messages  Source water protection actions benefit all drinking water wells (As, Bs, indiv wells).  Being proactive is far less expensive than dealing with an avoidable contamination problem.  Collaboration and cooperation with all interest groups is key to success. 30

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 31 Thank You

Public Health - Always Working for a Safer and Healthier Washington Washington State Department of Health Division of Environmental HealthOffice of Drinking Water 32 For more information:  Kitty Weisman State Source Water Protection Program Lead (360) or  Bryony Stasney Eastern Source Water Quality Program Lead (509) or  Heather Cannon Eastern Regional Planner (509) or