Source Water Assessment: Local Decisions, Local Remedies
by Scott Roberson, Ground Water Tech

"Every politician ought to sacrifice to the graces; and to join compliance to reason."
-- Edmund Burke, 1729-1797

By the time you receive this issue of The Kansas Lifeline, the EPA should have placed its stamp of approval upon the Kansas Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP). The State of Kansas has until June 1, 2003, to assess the contamination risks to the source water of all the public water systems in the state. The term "source water" applies to all wells, springs, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs that public water systems utilize as raw water sources.

The requirement that a source water assessment be conducted originates from the 1996 amendments of the Safe Drinking Water Act. This a requirement that is placed upon the state, not upon the individual water systems. That said, KRWA strongly suggests that water systems choose to be involved in the process. After all, you drink the water, live and work in the area, and have the most at stake. If anyone has a right to be involved, it is the local folks. The alternative is for someone else that does not drink the water and does not live and work in the area to do the assessment. It is going to be assessed. The question is, who will do it.

SWAP Overview

While I will not try to explain the entire SWAP process in this article due to space limitations, a much-simplified version is as follows:

Delineate the source water assessment area -- Identify the land area surrounding a surface water or groundwater drinking water diversion point through which contaminants could move and reach the well (groundwater systems) or intake (surface water systems).

Inventory potential contaminant sources -- Identify potential sources of contamination within the source water assessment area that could contaminate the drinking water source. In Kansas, this is not going to be a list of people/business names or locations. It is a simple list of what is present in the assessment area.

Conduct susceptibility analysis -- A susceptibility analysis procedure developed by KDHE is used to determine the likelihood that the raw water taken in at the public water supply's intake will contain contaminants at concentrations of concern.

Inform the public -- Completed source water assessments must be made available to the public, and a summary of the results included in the water system's consumer confidence report.

These four aspects of the assessment process are requirements of the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act. Certain details of the assessment will differ depending upon whether the water source is a well, lake, or river.

Volunteers get help, maybe dollars

Once the EPA approves the Kansas SWAP Plan, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment will start mailing letters to water systems asking whether they are interested in being involved in the assessment process. If the governing body of the water system indicates that they are interested, KDHE will send someone to visit with them and give a presentation describing the process. After this, if the water system is still interested, KDHE and a technical assistance provider (such as KRWA) will work with the system to go through the assessment process. For most water systems, this process should not cost anything, nor consume an inordinate amount of time. For some of the bigger water systems utilizing multiple water sources and those with complicated contamination issues relating to their source water, the process could be more time consuming and have some associated costs.

There is a limited amount of funds available to address any costs that may be associated with the assessment process. The availability of this money is subject to the approval of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. It is my understanding that these funds will be allocated for use in situations where the water source may have special contamination risks, on-going contamination problems, or where complex hydrological issues are involved. If a water system intends to use the results of the assessment process to develop a restrictive "regulatory" protection plan for their water source, then KDHE may also provide some funding due to the extra costs associated with the need to gather additional scientific data concerning the water source.

Plan follows assessment

Once a water system has gone through the assessment process it is hoped that the system will choose to also develop a source water protection plan. A simple education/incentive based protection plan (versus a "regulatory" plan) should be very doable for most water systems. These plans are designed to solicit the assistance of local experts such as district conservationists county extension agents, sanitarians, and others to help educate people concerning water quality protection measures and best management practices. They can also provide information concerning availability of funds and incentives to address water quality issues. A good example of this is the opportunity that farmers have to enroll land located within 2000 feet of a public water supply well into Continuous CRP.

There are extra monetary incentives for land that qualifies for this program. The decision to develop a source water protection plan is not a requirement, but is a voluntary decision made by the water system's governing body. KRWA encourages all water systems to develop these plans.

A Source Water Assessment need not be controversial, costly, or painful. The Kansas Department of Health and Environment has worked to make the process doable and non-intrusive to the sensibilities of Kansas citizens. Even though the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act requires that it be accomplished by the state, KDHE has made it possible for individual water systems to have a say in the process. Water systems with water sources in heavily populated areas may want and need to approach the work in one manner, while water systems with rural water sources may choose to approach it in a different manner. They will each need to do the work in a manner that satisfies the requirements of the Kansas SWAP Plan, but they will have the opportunity to approach it in the way that makes sense to them.

Do it or have it done to you

"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it, misdiagnosing it, and then misapplying the wrong remedies."
Groucho Marx

Groucho might not have been the greatest thinker of his time, but too often this statement seems to be true. Local folks, whether from the biggest city or the smallest rural water district, have a decision to make: To be involved in the assessment of their own drinking water or have someone they do not know do it for them. I know what I would choose.

If you would like more information concerning the Kansas SWAP process or developing a Wellhead/Source Water Protection Plan for your water system, KRWA is here to help. Give us a call at 785-336-3760 or contact us for more information. Assistance by KRWA is without charge to your utility.


From March 2001 issue of The Kansas Lifeline © 2001 KRWA

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