SECURING THE QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY OF MAINE'S DRINKING WATER

For the last half dozen years, the Maine Drinking Water Program has adopted a strategy that mirrors our mission: “Working Together for Safe Drinking Water”. Recognizing that our responsibilities as a program far outstrip our authority or resources, we have actively engaged with other agencies, non-profits, and our regulated systems to find and develop areas where our values and needs mesh. Three related areas where we have had success are in Source Protection, Security, and Water Flow and Level Management. Our successes have come, in large part, from developing partnerships at the working staff level, and then engaging management and legislative leaders. All three of these efforts intertwined, and often involve similar partners and obstacles.

Our pursuit of appropriate visibility and protection for drinking water resources has led us into storm water management, boating access strategic planning, land conservation and land trust engagement, Smart Growth, Non-Point Education for Municipal Officials, Water Classification, various aspects of water withdrawal and transport, and engagement with public health emergency preparedness, among others. Staff and resource limitations (32 staff supervising about 2,000 PWS's) have made this process both challenging and rewarding.

We have assisted public water systems and land conservation groups in finding common interests in maintaining habitat and water quality and quantity. In one of the more dramatic examples, The Nature Conservancy and Kennebunk, Kennebunkport, and Wells Water District have collaborated in the purchase of an area that protects both grasshopper sparrow habitat and water for Branch Brook, their primary source. The land also includes a spring water extraction facility.

We will focus on the intersection of source protection, security, and water withdrawal regulation, all aspects of providing Maine with a safe, adequate, and secure supply of drinking water. These may seem to be odd partners, but all are linked together and need to be managed simultaneously to have good outcomes.