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Source Water Assessment
and Protection
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Most drinking water systems in South Dakota depend on ground
water for their source of drinking water. Other public drinking water systems depend on
surface water supplies, such as lakes and streams, for drinking water. In both instances,
it is likely that the drinking water system is using that source because it is the most
reliable, economical, high-quality source of water available. Therefore, to protect the
future of our state, it is important to protect our water supplies from potential
contaminant sources.
The source water assessment and protection
program was a follow up to the wellhead protection program which originated as part of the
1986 Amendments to the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Many of the source water ideas and
actions originated in wellhead protection. Although similar, the programs differ in
a number of requirements, particularly in one major aspect, in that wellhead protection is
authorized by state law and source water is not. For more information on South
Dakota's wellhead protection program click
here.
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The federal 1996 Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments directed that each
state initiate a pollution prevention program that focuses on protecting the area surrounding a
public drinking water supply. These Amendments required each state to identify existing and
potential pollution sources that may impact the quality of public drinking water supplies. The
South Dakota Department of Environment and Natural Resources coordinated this effort for our
state. The department completed a source water assessment of each of the approximately 760 public
water supply systems in South Dakota at the time. A complete assessment is a three-step process
that included:
- Delineating the part of the watershed or ground
water area that contributes water to the water supply;
- Identifying the significant potential sources of
drinking water contamination in those areas;
- Determining the water supply's susceptibility to contamination from
those sources.
Now what?
But what happens once your drinking water source is assessed? The Safe Drinking Water Act doesn't
have much to say about that. That's where local communities come in. Once assessments are
completed, state and local governments, water providers, and concerned individuals can create an
action plan to address the problems and risks identified in the assessments. Even though the Safe
Drinking Water Act is silent about how to protect and restore source waters, many tools exist to
get the job done. A guidance document describing the general process that a community may use to
develop a source water/wellhead protection plan is listed above. Please follow the links on this
page for additional information on how you can help protect your drinking water source.
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