Water Research Foundation Study Presents A National Vision For Drinking Water Source Protection And A Roadmap For Action

The Water Research Foundation (WaterRF) has just completed a new study that will help drinking water utilities and other stakeholders develop a strategy to protect the vital sources of our drinking water, titled, Source Water Protection Vision and Roadmap (#4176b).

So that water utilities and supporting groups can achieve the vision that, by 2025, every public community water supply will be protected by an active source water protection program, a Roadmap has been assembled and calls for action in four areas:

• Raise Awareness: There is a need to raise awareness of the importance and value of source water protection by utilities, consumers, stakeholders, and state and federal regulators to achieve the Vision.
• Enhance Coordination: Programs, efforts, and regulations affecting source water protection for drinking water supplies can be conflicting, redundant, or lacking focus. There is a need for enhanced coordination to achieve the Vision.
• Provide support: Many water utilities have not proceeded with developing source water protection programs due to a lack of confidence with where or how to begin and also insufficient funding. Experienced water industry peers, through mentorship programs and state and federal funding agencies, need to provide support to achieve the Vision.
• Increase Recognition: Successful efforts being made to protect sources of drinking water should be acknowledged more publicly and praised more frequently. There needs to be increased recognition by the public and drinking water community and by state and federal regulators.

An annotated bibliography of source water protection information, comprehensive case studies, and other background details are provided in the companion document, Developing a Vision and Roadmap for Source Water Protection for U.S. Drinking Water Utilities (#4176a). To help advance general understanding of the challenges associated with source water management and the importance of implementing proactive management strategies, the Foundation is making both reports available to the public.

"As America's population continues to grow and demands for safe, clean, and affordable drinking water correspondingly increase, it is imperative that drinking water utilities and other interested parties have a solid, long-range plan in place to help them manage this increasingly scarce natural resource," said Rob Renner, Executive Director of WaterRF.

About the Water Research Foundation
Founded in 1966, the Water Research Foundation is an international, 501(c)3 non-profit organization that sponsors research to enable water utilities, public health agencies and other professionals to provide safe and affordable drinking water to the public. With more than 950 subscriber members who provide water to 80 percent of the U.S. population, the Water Research Foundation has funded and managed more than 1,000 projects. For more information, visit www.WaterRF.org.

SOURCE: Water Research Foundation