IN MANY LOCATIONS around the world, ensuring access to good quality water can be a challenge due to economic as well as domestic activities impacting the quality of surface and groundwater supplies. To avoid having to develop new water supplies due to contamination a number of jurisdictions are turning to water source protection methods which involve the protection of surface water sources and the protection of groundwater sources from contamination of any kind.

2. EXPRESS WATER April, 2018 41
COLUMN URBAN WATER
ProtectingtheSource
IN MANY LOCATIONS
around the world, ensuring
access to good quality water
can be a challenge due to eco-
nomic as well as domestic
activities impacting the quali-
ty of surface and groundwater
supplies.
To avoid having to develop
new water supplies due to
contamination a number of
jurisdictions are turning to
water source protection meth-
ods which involve the protec-
tion of surface water sources
and the protection of ground-
water sources from contami-
nation of any kind.
Korea’s PrecautionaryAp-
proach
Korea’s Ministry of
Environment (MOE) has
established water manage-
ment measures for four major
rivers in the country. Through
special measures and laws,
MOE has introduced strong
precautionary policies that
focus on total pollution load
management, water charges
for downstream uses, designa-
tion of riparian buffer zones,
and land purchase of water
source areas. Specifically:
MOE allows local administra-
tors to determine appropriate
total pollution load manage-
ment systems; water use
charges for downstream users
are used to make up for losses
incurred by upstream resi-
dents due to land use regula-
tions as well as to facilitate the
construction of basic environ-
mental facilities; riparian
buffer zones are used to
restrict the construction of
restaurants, lodging facilities,
bathhouses, factories, and
livestock sheds; and under the
land purchase system, if a per-
son wishes to sell land and
buildings in water source pro-
tection areas, riparian buffer
zones, or areas vulnerable to
water quality deterioration,
the buyer is required to con-
sult in advance with the
Watershed Management
Committee before purchase to
reduce potential for future
tensions over permitted activ-
ities.
Vienna Constitutionally
Protecting itsWater
Vienna is the first city in
the world to constitutionally
protect its drinking water.
The Vienna Water Charter
ensures the city does not
expose water to hazards that
impact water quality. Vienna’s
drinking water comes from
water springs in the Rax,
Schneeberg and Schneealpe
mountains and from the
Hochschwab mountain mas-
sif. To protect the springs the
Forestry Office of the City of
Vienna maintains source pro-
tection forests to ensure the
soil remains healthy and able
to filter and store rainwater
efficiently. In addition, the city
works with farmers in the
source areas to avoid negative
influences on the water
sources.
Massachusetts’Source
Protection Grant
In Massachusetts, the
state offers a Drinking Water
Supply Protection (DWSP)
Grant to public water systems
and municipal water depart-
ments for the purchase of land
or interests in land for the
protection of existing public
drinking water supplies; pro-
tection of planned future pub-
lic drinking water supplies;
and groundwater recharge.
Under the DWSP Grant appli-
cants can receive up to
$350,000 in funding to imple-
ment plans to protect existing
or new wells, as well as sur-
face drinking water supply
systems including reservoirs.
The funds can even be used to
purchase watershed land
located in Department of
Environmental Protection-
approved drinking water sup-
ply land to ensure the health
and well-being of
Massachusetts’ residents.
NewYork CityWorking in
Partnership
New York City Department
of Environmental Protection
(DEP) is responsible for oper-
ating, maintaining, and pro-
tecting the city’s water supply
and distribution system. To
protect the source of drinking
water for nine million water
consumers, DEP funds and
implements a comprehensive
Long-Term Watershed
Protection Program. A key
aspect of the programme is
that it includes working in
partnership with many
diverse stakeholder groups
and local organizations. Since
1992, the Watershed
Agricultural Program has
promoted a non-regulatory,
voluntary, incentive-based
and farmer-led approach to
controlling agricultural
sources of pollution while sup-
porting the economic viability
of the watershed’s agricultural
economy. Working through
the Watershed Agricultural
Council, the city funds devel-
opment of farm pollution pre-
vention plans and implemen-
tation of structural and non-
structural best management
practices. To date, nearly 200
large farm operations have
signed up with the pro-
gramme and over 7,000 best
management practices have
been implemented. In addi-
tion, the Conservation
Reserve Enhancement
Program pays farmers to take
sensitive riparian buffer lands
out of active farm use and re-
establish vegetative buffers.
This has led to the develop-
ment of nearly 2,000 acres of
riparian buffers and around
9,000 head of livestock being
excluded from streams.
Philadelphia’sWatershed
Approach
Philadelphia Water
Department’s (PWD) Source
Water Protection Program
takes a watershed-wide
approach to protecting the
quality of the city’s drinking
water sources with PWD
working with upstream com-
munities and organisations on
a variety of initiatives includ-
ing: working with regional
land trusts and conservancies
to ensure forested lands are
permanently protected for
drinking water supply protec-
tion; lobbying for policies that
preserve forests and empha-
sise water resource protec-
tion; collaborating with the
State of Pennsylvania to
ensure regulations are
enforced for wastewater
treatment plants that dis-
charge upstream of
Philadelphia; and working
with State and local stake-
holders to rehabilitate the
Fairmount Dam Fishway
Facility, which is the largest
fish passage structure in the
Schuylkill River watershed
and is critical to ensuring the
healthy fish passage on the
Schuylkill River and its tribu-
taries.
Overall, water source pro-
tection actions can involve a
variety of policy regulations
and economic incentives to
protect water resources from
non-point source pollution
including the restriction of
certain activities near water
sources, grants to local author-
ities to purchase land in and
around existing or new wells,
and funding of best manage-
ment practices on farmlands.
Water source protection can
also involve non-regulatory
activities such as stakeholder
engagement initiatives that
bring together communities
and organizations across
entire watersheds to jointly
develop solutions.
Robert Brears is the author
of Urban Water Security,
Founder of Mitidaption, and
Our Future Water."
@Mitidaption
Robert C Brears
To avoid having to develop new water supplies due to contamination a number of jurisdictions
are turning to water source protection methods which involve the protection of surface water
sources and the protection of groundwater sources from contamination of any kind.
By Robert C Brears