(As Required by Section 1428(g) of
the SDWA amendments of 1986)
October 1995 through September 1997
Section 1428 of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires States
that have EPA-approved Wellhead Protection Programs to report their
progress to EPA through biennial reports. The 1997 report
covers three periods from 1991 through 1997. The 1999 report, due
October 2000, covers the period 1997 through 1999.
The 1997 report results in summary by number of Community Water
Systems are:
Specific questions regarding the biennial report may be addressed
to EPA
Regional WHP/SWAP coordinators or to State
wellhead contacts. Please address general questions to
barnes.kevin@epa.gov.
Overview
The Wellhead Protection (WHP) Program is a pollution prevention
and management program used to protect underground based sources
of drinking water. The national WHP Program was established in 1986
by the Safe Drinking Water Act. The law specified that certain program
activities, such as delineation, contaminant source inventory, and
source management, be incorporated into State Wellhead Protection
Programs (WHPPs), which are approved by EPA prior to implementation.
While Section 1428 applies only to States, a number of
Tribes are implementing the program as well.
State WHP Programs vary greatly. For example, some require
community water systems to develop management plans, while others
rely on education and technical assistance to encourage voluntary
action. WHPPs are the foundation for many of the state Source
Water Assessment Programs required under the 1996 SDWA amendments.
Under SDWA Section 1428, States that have EPA-approved programs
must report their progress to EPA in biennial reports. Three reports
have been published since 1991. They cover the periods 1991 to 1993,
1993 to 1995, and 1995 to 1997. The reports are cumulative.
The 1997 Wellhead Protection Biennial Report will be used as the
benchmark of ground water data for implementing and tracking goals
for the Wellhead Protection Program. It will also serve to document
progress for the Source Water Protection Program, the
Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) and environmental
planning efforts on Tribal Lands.
Since the program’s inception in 1986 EPA has approved 50
Wellhead Protection programs, including the territories of Guam
and Puerto Rico. Approval is pending for Alaska, and Virginia has
not yet submitted a program. The District of Columbia has no groundwater
sources of drinking water. For the 1995-1997 period, 43 of 49 States
reported their Wellhead Protection implementation progress. The
recently approved states of California and Iowa are not required
to report until October 2001.
