Source Water Protection
Source water protection works to prevent contaminants from entering sources of drinking water.
This increases the quality of water coming out of your kitchen sink and reduces the possibility that contaminants will be present in a glass of water.
The Wisconsin DNR has two programs that deal with source water protection:
Wellhead protection planning is one way to ensure your community has a long-term source of clean water.
The 1986 ammendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act require that all new wells have wellhead protection programs in place. A voluntary wellhead protection program exists for drinking water wells that were constructed previously to this mandate.
Source Water Assessments
Source water assessments provide information on the susceptibility of public drinking water sources to contamination and impacts to source water quality. This is important for landuse planning and managing potential contaminant sources.
Source water assessments are required for all public drinking water systems, including surface water systems by the 1996 amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The Wisconsin DNR is responsible for completing assessments for the more than 11,000 public drinking water systems in Wisconsin.
Last Revised: Monday March 26 2007
RSS