Source Water Protection

Source water is untreated water from streams, rivers, lakes, or underground aquifers. It is used to provide public drinking water and it supplies private wells with water used for human consumption. In order to give water utilities and community members the information they need to decide how to protect drinking water sources, the Safe Drinking Water Act requires that the states develop EPA-approved programs to carry out assessments of all source waters in the state.

We have over 2,300 resources (and counting) on Source Water in our Documents Database that provide valuable information on this topic. You can search for resources like the Drinking Water Mapping Application to Protect Source Waters (DWMAPS), a guide to groundwater protection, a Ground Water Rule compliance manual for water systems and states, an FAQ on abandoned wells, a flowchart to help determine groundwater sources under the direct influence of surface water (GWUDI), and many other useful guides that will help you to deliver safe and clean water to utility customers. 

To access the wealth of knowledge on Source Water within our database just select "CATEGORY" in the dropdown then choose "Source Water." Once you make that selection, a second dropdown will appear where you can choose "HOST," “TYPE,” or “STATE” to narrow the search even further. If you have a specific search term in mind, use the “Keyword Filter” search bar on the right side of the screen.

This is part of our A-Z for Operators series.

Featured Video: NASA's SMAP: Mapping the Water Under Our Feet

NASA's SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) satellite provides worldwide soil moisture readings every 2-3 days. This data is invaluable to scientists, engineers, and local decision makers alike, improving flood prediction and drought monitoring. To see some of the images it has produced in the past, go here.