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Case Studies in Watershed Management
The main goal of any drinking water supplier is to provide safe and
reliable water to the consumer. However, meeting this goal is becoming
more complex with the impacts of external factors such as increasing
populations, the declining quality of the water sources, and the
discovery of new threats to human health in the rivers, streams and
aquifers. EPA estimates that water suppliers will need to spend over
20 billion dollars nationwide to reduce the threat from contaminants
that can cause acute health effects. An estimated 11 billion dollars
will need to be spent on rehabilitating source waters. Is there any
way to change this prospect? Municipal water suppliers are looking
outward to solutions, partnering with local community members and
pollution control programs to implement local management strategies to
maintain or improve the quality of their water sources. Rather than
waiting for the waters to be beyond repair and require more expensive
treatment and rehabilitation, they see value in protecting the source.
In this document, seventeen drinking water suppliers share their
experiences on engaging in watershed management efforts as part of
their day-to-day business of providing safe drinking water to the
public. We hope that these case studies are helpful. We encourage
those interested in more details about any particular drinking water
supplier's experience, to contact them. Their names and phone numbers
are in the acknowledgments.
Download a 819K PDF version of
"Protecting sources of
drinking water: Case studies in watershed management"
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