Source Water Collaborative Announces 2013 Pilot Programs in PA, WI and WY
As a part of its ongoing commitment to encourage state and local actions to protect sources of drinking water, the Source Water Collaborative (SWC) (which includes ASDWA) is pleased to announce its support of three new pilot programs including watershed-based, countywide and state-wide efforts.
In addition to strategic planning assistance and project support, the SWC’s extensive member network can help pilots access non-traditional or harder-toreach partners. The selected pilots have a wide variety of partnerships and unique project champions, including drinking water utilities; county planning commission; USDA (NRCS, Forest Service); universities; state departments of environment, health services, and game/fish; state geological surveys; NGOs (Trout Unlimited, Nature Conservancy); associations representing watershed, rural water, livestock, and conservation interests; and EPA Regional Offices. The pilots are committed to: integrating and building collaboration between Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act programs to help protect public health and the environment; coordinating with agricultural stakeholders; and developing a summary of their source water protection efforts that can be used as a guide by other communities facing similar challenges.
The SWC 2013 Pilots are:
- Lancaster County, Pennsylvania — Led by the Lancaster County Planning Commission. Enhanced collaboration is a top strategic priority outlined in the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners’ recently adopted Blueprints: An Integrated Water Resources Plan for Lancaster County. Consistent with this plan, this pilot seeks to increase collaboration between water suppliers and key partners to implement best source water protection practices and outreach to stakeholders.
- State of Wisconsin (with Rock and Sauk Counties) — Led by Department of Natural Resources’ Bureau of Drinking Water and Groundwater. This project team seeks to develop a transferrable, collaborative response, with participation of partners and key stakeholders, to reduce the number of subwatersheds with drinking water sources approaching unsafe levels of nitrate.
- Sheridan, Wyoming (Big Goose Creek Watershed) — Led by the City of Sheridan & Sheridan Area Water Supply. This project team will work with partners to develop a watershed control plan to address Cryptosporidium, E. coli and sediment pollution, and design action plans that can be implemented to protect sources from future contamination.
For more information, visit the web site at: www.sourcewatercollaborative.org.
