1. The Source Water Collaborative & the SMART About Water Program
Steve Heare, Director, Drinking Water Protection Division, Office of Ground Water & Drinking Water, USEPA
Thanks for inviting me to the SMART About Water training design workshop. EPA is happy to support this important project and the work of West Virginia University’s National Environmental Services Center and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership in helping small water systems protect their source waters from failing septic and sewer systems.
I hope to bring you up to date on key activities of the National Source Water Collaborative and how this initiative supports and is in turn supported by the SMART About Water Program.

2. The Source Water Collaborative: Overview
Group of 19 national organizations working to advance source water protection at all levels, by promoting land stewardship and smart planning decisions
Vision statement signed early 2006
Web Site:
Collaborative formed in early 2006 with 13 members. Now, we’re up to 19 members.
American Planning Association | American Water Works Association | Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies | Association of State Drinking Water Administrators | Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Administrators | Association of State and Territorial Health Officials | Clean Water Fund | Environmental Finance Center Network | Groundwater Foundation | Ground Water Protection Council | National Association of Counties | National Ground Water Association | National Rural Water Association | North American Lake Management Society | River Network | The Trust for Public Land | U.S. Department of Agriculture - Farm Service Agency | U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | U.S. Geological Survey

3. The SWC: Recent Activities
Planner’s Guide
Research Agenda and the Cost-Benefit Tool
Your Water. Your Decision. campaign and the Local Officials Guide
Recent members: ASTHO, NGWA, USDA
The Collaborative has been targeting different audiences to promote source water protection activities.
Planner’s Guide – April 2007 – A guide for community planners on how source water protection can be incorporated into the planning process – e.g through comprehensive planning, development review, zoning ordinances.
Research Agenda – Summer 2007 – Encourages research to quantify the costs and benefits of source water protection. Research agenda presented to AwwaRF, and they are awarding 150K to develop a user-friendly, web-enabled cost-benefit estimation tool for communities. The main awardee (Oxenford Consulting) will be working with the Collaborative, and others, to work through protocols and assumptions.
Your Water. Your Decision. campaign– February 2008 –
Marketing effort intended to help local officials and other community leaders make informed choices to protect their communities’ drinking water sources.
At the center of the campaign is a guide for local officials on how they can address source water protection through development patterns, budgeting, and stewardship.
There are also postcards, a toolkit with suggested talking points and audiences, and a whole slew of weblinks available at
Each Collaborative member is promoting the campaign in its own way.
Newest members:
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials – February 2008
National Ground Water Association and USDA’s Farm Service Agency – June 2007

4. The SWC: Future Activities
Tracking the Your Water. Your Decision. campaign
Next Target Audience – Water Utilities
Case Studies of Collaborative Activities
Reaching out to new members
Tracking the Your Water. Your Decision. campaign
Tracking how each Collaborative member is distributing the Guide
Working with two members (GWPC and ASDWA) on doing more targeted monitoring and feedback with two states – NC and MN (NOTE TO STEVE: GWPC recommended MN (Bruce Olsen) and ASDWA recommended NC (Jay Frick) as two states that are actively promoting source water protection to water systems and local officials & are interested in using the guide and providing feedback on its usefulness. )
Working to use a short customer satisfaction survey on the Collaborative website to get info on audiences, how the guide is being used, and how it might be improved.
The Guide,and the website, will be revised as needed.
Next Target Audience – Water Utilities
Collaborative members expressed interest in targeting water utilities as their next group of interest.
Workgroup meeting in April – can update notes in that section, then.
Case Studies of Collaborative Activities
We’re working to develop a number of case studies on local or state collaborations to protect drinking water sources. The intent is to provide food for thought and also some ideas on how people have worked with partners to advance source water protection. We expect to have 6 case studies by the end of the year, and they will be available on the website.
Reaching out to new members
Forest Service has expressed interest, as well as the Conservation Fund and American Farmland Trust. May also target groups depending on where we feel we need more support.

5. The SWC & SMART About Water: Partnership Opportunities
SMART About Water will strengthen the partnership of SWC members with local wastewater managers and health officials
The SWC will expand the audiences that WVU/RCAP can reach through their training programs
Products will be mutually beneficial (training, training materials, guides, websites, etc.)
Products (training, training materials, guides, websites, etc.) will be mutually beneficial and should prove useful in helping audiences manage their wastewater with source water protection in mind (“Your Water. Your Decision” guide, e.g.) For example, the SWC’s Your Water. Your Decision guide provides local officials with a quick source of information on local options for protecting drinking water, such as low-impact development, stewardship, and budgeting

6. Again, thank you for the opportunity to be with you today.
Roy Simon, who is Associate Chief of the Prevention Branch in the Drinking Water Protection Division, will now provide you with an overview of EPA’s role in Source Water Protection and identify some important activities we have supported recently or are currently supporting.
ProtectDrinkingWater.org