Source water assessment programs.

The State Source Water Assessment and Protection Programs Guidance (U.S. EPA #816-R-97-009), published August 6, 1997, requires each state to develop a Source Water Assessment Program (SWAP) and submit it for U.S. EPA approval by February 1999. Once the program is approved, the state has 42 months to implement it and complete assessments for every public water system. Source-water assessments include the following steps:

* delineating the land areas that provide water to a drinking-water supply,

* conducting an inventory of potential contaminant sources,

* determining the susceptibility of the public water supply to contamination, and

* releasing the results to the public.

Source water assessments are intended to serve as a lens for focusing existing federal, state, and local efforts to protect drinking-water sources. Given the importance of source water in many different contexts, it is important that a wide variety of interests participate in the development of state programs. Each state is required to encourage public participation "to the maximum extent possible," which includes convening citizen and technical advisory committees, ensuring the opportunity for broad public participation (e.g., hearings, workshops, public meetings, etc.), and accepting and responding to public comments. The Guidance specifies groups that need to be given sufficient opportunity to participate on the advisory committee, including public health representatives.

Most states are at some stage of the public participation process. Although many states look to a regular set of partners for input on state program development (e.g., a standing drinking-water advisory committee), these groups rarely include local public health interests and usually include only a few representatives from environmental and conservation groups. Environmental health specialists can play an important role in the development of the SWAPs because they are uniquely aware of both health and environmental issues. As local leaders, they have the ability to contribute to the usefulness, practicality, and efficacy of state programs. They are also very likely to provide the community with a strong impetus to move beyond the assessment to actual protection measures.

The public input received by the state through the advisory committee meetings should guide much of the final approach to source-water assessments. The Guidance gives examples of the types of questions and issues the advisory committees should discuss (e.g., "What contaminants that are not currently regulated by U.S. EPA should be part of the state's SWAP program?"). It is important to educate and involve the public in these early stages of program development so that individuals and communities understand how a source water assessment and protection program links with drinking-water quality.

For more information, including the contact person for each state, visit the U.S. EPA source-water protection page on the Internet at www.epa.gov/ogwdw/protect.html or call the Safe Drinking Water Hotline at [phone].