EPA'S SOURCE WATER PROTECTION PROGRAM FOR GROUND WATER

The Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 required the states to develop, submit to U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and implement once approved, a Source Water Assessment Plan. There are approximately 168,000 public water systems in the U.S., about 20,000 in Region 3. Over $12 Million was provided to EPA Region 3 states to complete their assessments.

The assessments included a delineation of a source water protection area, a contaminant source inventory, a determination of the public water system's susceptibility to contamination, and a provision for public participation. For ground water systems, EPA's publication titled “Guidelines for Delineation of Wellhead Protection Areas” (published in 1987) was recommended for delineations. The inventory of contaminants included any significant potential sources and their locations. The list of potential sources could includes NPDES facilities, Superfund sites, underground storage tanks (USTs), landfills, TRI sites, nonpoint sources and other possible sources. A determination on the public water systems susceptibility would include an analysis of hydrogeology and/or hydrology, an understanding of the contaminants, and an analysis of risk. Lastly, a plan to relay this information to the public was required.

Completion of the source water assessments was a requirement of the Safe Drink Water Act. Implementation of a Source Water Protection Program is voluntary. Some funding is provided under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Program integration with the Clean Water Act, CERCLA, Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA), and other programs are key tools in the implementation of source water protection. One example of successful program integration is the collaboration with the RCRA Program. Thirty-nine states have reported to EPA that the largest threat to public water supplies that rely on ground water is from USTs and gas stations. The EPA Source Water Protection Program and RCRA Program entered into an interoffice agreement to prioritize inspections of USTs based on the susceptibility of public water supplies to contamination. Delaware was the first state in Region to pilot this project. The presentation will review the source water assessment process, fundamentals of a source water protection program, and Delaware's prioritization process for inspections of USTs.