Introduction to Drinking Water Protection in Oregon

Approximately 75% of Oregons citizens get their drinking water from public water systems. Public water systems in Oregon are regulated by the Oregon Department of Human Services (DHS). In Oregon, public water systems with greater than 3 hookups, or serving more than 10 people, year-round are regulated. The 50 largest public water systems, serving >10,000 each, supply drinking water for 60% of the population of the state. In terms of sources of drinking water by population, 50% of Oregons citizens rely solely on groundwater (mostly small systems). Approximately 30% rely solely on surface water. These are mostly large systems. Another 20% rely on surface water and groundwater, as an emergency backup supply or combination system.

The term municipal watershed is widely used to describe a drainage basin or catchment that collects water to flow into a common stream or river where it supplies a communitys drinking water. The use of the term has historically implied that the watersheds sole purpose is to provide a communitys drinking water. However, there are only a few municipal watersheds in Oregon that are managed to provide high quality drinking water as the principle use (e.g., Bends Bridge Creek Watershed, Portlands Bull Run Watershed). The vast majority of municipal watersheds in Oregon provide multiple use activities including agriculture, forestry, recreation, industry, infrastructure and urban/rural homes. The same situation applies for nearly all of the groundwater recharge areas that supply the public water systems in Oregon. The source areas for these public water systems serve many important purposes in addition to being the collection area for the municipal water supplies.

Public water system purveyors have relied almost exclusively upon chemical and mechanical technologies to treat water and to provide an expected level of safety for the public that relies on the systems. Water treatment plants and chlorination are critical treatment processes used to provide safe drinking water. However, increasing urbanization of land used as sources of drinking water, microbial pathogens resistant to chlorination, and proliferation of new synthetic chemical compounds and pharmaceuticals, can challenge the effectiveness of treatment technology. There is widespread recognition that reliable drinking water supplies are dependent upon whole systems that include healthy source water areas, in addition to the well-maintained collection systems, treatment plants, and distribution networks.

The goal of having a healthy source water area is accomplished through drinking water protection efforts. Drinking water protection does not mean prohibiting other uses in a watershed or groundwater recharge area. It means identifying the highest risks that could potentially affect the public water system, and seeking to reduce those risks. Drinking water protection has the potential to not only reduce the risk of contamination, but also reduce the cost of treatment, and reduce the risk of local health impacts from contaminants that cannot be removed through standard treatment.

The primary incentive for local communities to voluntarily implement drinking water protection strategies is the benefit of a more secure source of high quality water. Other (perhaps more tangible) incentives include lower costs to the public by: (a) a reduction in DHS public water supply monitoring requirements, and (b) reduced likelihood of costs for replacement and/or treatment of contaminated drinking water. Long-term assurances of a safe and adequate drinking water supply also helps to protect property values and preserve the local and regional economic growth potential for the area. Developing a plan to protect a public water system is always a cost effective use of resources, since it is extremely expensive to treat contaminated drinking water or to find an alternative source should a water supply be lost because of contamination. DEQ estimates the cost of developing a Drinking Water Protection Plan for a small community of less than 500 to range from $100 (with staff or donated time) to approximately $6,000 (with preparation by a consultant). This is quite different from the typical costs to investigate and install treatment for contamination of at least $500,000. These numbers are based on actual costs of contamination response in 1992, at a small groundwater supplied public water system in Marion County. A recent EPA study demonstrated the ratio of contaminant cleanup costs to basic prevention ranges from 5:1 to 200:1.

We are facing new challenges with the continual development and production of new chemical compounds developed as medications and for industrial purposes. These chemical compounds can find their way into surface water and groundwater resources as a product of human wastes. Recent US Geological Survey studies indicate that many compounds commonly used in everyday life are turning up at very low concentrations in streams and groundwater across the country. Examples of some of the compounds found to date include acetaminophen (headache medication), caffeine, codeine (narcotic for severe pain), cotinine (nicotine metabolite), 17b-estradiol (hormone), and sulfamethoxazole (antibiotic). Standard treatment technologies do not remove all of these compounds. These are important reasons to prevent the source water contamination in the first place as an effective tool in providing safe drinking water.

In Oregon, we are faced with an increasing need to conserve water as we seek to address a long-term drought and an already-limited quantity of water (water rightssee WRD website) available for public water supply use. Reducing the water demands from source areas (water conservation) can be an important component of protecting the drinking water resource. Protecting our public water sources will provide better long-term assurances for the community and also ensure that the resource remains available for future generations. Protecting the source area will also provide other economic benefits such as increased property values and improved aquatic life conditions.

Source Water Assessments

The 1996 Amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) provided new resources to DEQ and DHS to provide drinking water protection assistance to public water systems and communities. Source Water Assessments have been completed for all public water systems that have at least 15 hookups, or serve more than 25 people year-round. As a result, DEQ and DHS have delineated the groundwater and surface water source areas which supply public water systems, inventoried each of those areas to determine potential sources of contamination, and determined the most susceptible areas at risk for contamination.

DEQ and DHS shared the responsibilities to implement the Source Water Assessment requirements that included computer database development, Geographic Information System (GIS) development, technical assistance, contamination source inventories, surface water delineations, groundwater delineations, and susceptibility analyses. DHS conducted the groundwater delineations and aquifer sensitivity analyses. DEQ was responsible for the surface water delineations, watershed sensitivity analyses, and inventories for all 1156 full assessments. Both agencies worked to complete Source Water Assessment Reports for each public water system. Many of Oregons larger public water systems completed their own assessments.

One of the goals for the Source Water Assessment program is to provide public access to the results. DEQ and DHS have a combined Drinking Water Protection database which includes a significant amount of data related to the location, delineation, inventory, sensitivity analysis and susceptibility analysis for each source assessed. The purpose of this database is to serve as a repository for drinking water source data to be available to local governments, planners, state and federal agencies, consultants, communities and the general public.

Results from the SWA are also available as GIS layers, with precise GPS locations of the surface water intakes and groundwater wells and springs. This GIS data can be incorporated into land use planning, designation of special areas, etc., at the local or county level. The GIS data and other results of the Source Water Assessments are available at http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/dwp/results.htm.

As a result of the assessments, communities already have both a detailed map of where their water comes from and a list of the potential contaminant sources (natural and man-made) that may affect the water quality. The assessments were designed to identify potential sources of contamination from both non-point and point sources. The individual communities can use the assessment results to voluntarily develop a plan to protect the source area. The assessment report provides information to the community that enables them to focus limited resources on the higher-risk areas within the watershed or recharge zones for wells.

How Does a Community Protect Their Drinking Water?

Using the results of the assessment, members of the local community, local businesses, or the water system can develop strategies to reduce the risks of contamination from those sources. Some strategies for protection can be implemented right away; others may require forming a "Drinking Water Protection Team" to develop a plan for action. Technical assistance in drinking water protection strategy development and implementation is available from DEQ or DHS. The management options implemented to reduce risk are highly individualized, and should be developed by the community to meet their specific needs. Cooperative decision making by public officials, water systems, public interest groups, business, agriculture, and individual citizens can create a powerful long-lasting partnership that will facilitate implementation and public acceptance of drinking water protection.

Technical assistance is available and is provided to the communities by DEQ and DHS as they work through the process. Other agencies will also be involved in providing technical assistance as protection plans are developed. For example, on farm lands, the Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) will provide assistance as provided for under Senate Bill 1010. In developing recommendations for protecting drinking water source areas, we have sought to maximize the use of existing programs in Oregon such as pollution prevention technical assistance (DEQ), sanitary survey results (DHS), household hazardous waste collection (DEQ), agricultural water quality protection (ODA), water conservation education (Oregon Water Resources Department), rural water quality outreach (OSU Extension Service.), etc.

Protecting the drinking water supply in a community can also be a very effective way to encourage all stakeholders to participate in an issue which directly affects everyone in that community. This often leads to more public involvement in other significant local decisions concerning future livability issues (i.e., land use planning). In communities already developing and implementing Drinking Water Protection Plans, the process has served to bring many diverse interests together on a common goal and strengthen the local rural and urban relationships through communication and increased understanding of the typical adversarial priorities.

Oregon's Drinking Water Protection Strategies

Implementation of a successful drinking water protection program at the state level will involve several key elements. Most importantly, it is essential that a recognition and consensus is established for the need for drinking water protection. Oregon state agencies must work together to recognize the importance of protecting these source areas and be strong partners with the local communities that are committed to ensuring their citizens safe drinking water. The second key element is to develop a long-term strategic plan for source water protection that will ensure progress toward achieving the greatest level of public health protection, with a realistic understanding of the number of staff and agency resources available for the program. Lastly, to ensure accountability, it is important to develop performance measures that determine whether the program is using the limited resources in the most effective way. Oregons benchmarks play a role in this, as well as the US EPA national goals and measures.

To effectively promote and accomplish drinking water protection, it is important that public water system operators and local community officials become more actively engaged in land management issues in their source areas. One of the values of the source water assessment is that it provides the community with a discreet area to focus on protecting. The assessments were designed to produce a map of the most sensitive areas that are vulnerable to contamination for their public water system. We will seek to share this information with counties and communities so that they can take action to minimize risks in these areas.

It is widely recognized that water quality protection (in any program) is more effectively achieved by engaging Oregonians to take voluntary actions beyond compliance. The basis of most new water quality protection planning is to involve, empower, and provide incentives to private landowners to make voluntary commitments to watershed restoration and habitat restoration. Developing a plan to protect a watershed or groundwater recharge area that serves a public water system uses the same approach. Voluntary actions by private landowners can be very effective in assisting communities downstream or downgradient to provide safe drinking water.

Since there are no new authorities associated with drinking water protection in Oregon, state agencies must rely upon integration and coordination with other programs. Our primary focus is to encourage other programs to use the sensitive areas as priorities within their programs. We will continue to coordinate with other established programs, especially at DEQ, such as spill response, household hazardous waste collection, hazardous waste cleanup, underground storage tank cleanup, and pollution prevention technical assistance, to focus on preventing the contamination of public water supplies. It is important to consider all components of the water cycle, such as addressing groundwater issues within municipal watersheds where groundwater may be contributing to the water quality problems in nearby surface waters.

When it comes to implementing water quality protection, there are similarities between this program and other water quality efforts, such as watershed streamside buffers to save endangered salmon. Many of these efforts can be coordinated to increase the likelihood of success. Where the programs have complimentary goals and priorities, we will work to leverage our resources to accomplish water quality protection. There are programs that are not driven by the same priorities and do not address the same water quality parameters.

One such example is the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. For the Clean Water Act Section 303D-listed streams (64 total) that serve as drinking water sources, completing and implementing the TMDL will most likely have very little impact on drinking water treatment issues. This is primarily due to the fact that most TMDL efforts are not directly addressing relevant drinking water parameters in the modeling and implementation process. The TMDL may be addressing the temperature issues on a stream, for example, while the public water supply may be seeking to reduce sediments and turbidity. There are many federal and state water quality programs that address endangered species and aquatic life, but do not address drinking water issues.

There are a number of Oregon communities currently working to develop and implement plans to protect their drinking water source areas. The following communities or public water systems should be commended for their work on various phases of drinking water protection: Eugene, Springfield, Bandon, Hubbard, Portland, Gresham, Fairview, Salem, Sutherlin, Port Orford, Albany, Lebanon, Maupin, Mollala, Oak Grove, Crystal Springs, Sweet Home, Avion (Bend), Medford, Canby, Bend, Scappoose, Wheeler, the Clackamas River providers, and others. Some of these communities were working to protect their source waters many years before the source water assessments were mandated. In other cases, the SWA Reports provided key information to the community that enabled them to focus limited resources on the higher-risk areas within the watershed or recharge zones for wells.

Where can I get more information?

Initial contacts for drinking water protection assistance can be made to either of the agencies: Sheree Stewart at DEQ 503-229-5413, or Tom Pattee at DHS 541-726-2587 (x24) or see contact information at http://www.deq.state.or.us/wq/dwp/contacts.htm.

As we move further into the protection phase of the Oregon program, we will be able to direct individual requests for assistance to specific staff trained and experienced in that area, both within the state agencies and other partner organizations.

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