A quick review of key components of the local, voluntary watershed approach to protecting natural resources will help you evaluate groundwater management approaches and how they may be used in your particular situation. The most critical component to the watershed management approach is the involvement and consensus of all key stakeholders (or organizations representing them) at each step in the process. Other key components include:
..
Assess natural resources-soil, water (including groundwater), air, plants, animals, and people.
..
Identify and prioritize problems...
Develop measurable objectives-based on local environmental,economic and social goals.
..
Identify and agree upon strategies for reaching objectives...
Implement strategies and assess results.
Some of the activities, as they pertain to
groundwater, are described in this guide. For example:
..
Determing boundaries of the groundwater and watershed areas
is typically part of assessment.
..
Discussing existing and future uses of water is part of setting
goals.
..
Defining pollutants and sources is part of assessment, goal
setting and solution identification.
..
Understanding various tools is part of identifying and
implementing solutions.
Existing groundwater programs.
Over the past 20 years many federal and state programs have been developed
to improve management of groundwater. Four of the most useful can also
easily be incorporated into your watershed plan. These include:
..
Comprehensive State Groundwater Protection Program
..
Sole Source Aquifer Program
..
Source Water Protection Program
..
Wellhead Protection Program
These approaches can be used in a complementary fashion to manage all resources, including groundwater, for multiple uses-ranging from human consumption to industrial processes to maintaining ecological integrity within a wetland.
Comprehensive State Groundwater Protection Program is a statewide program that looks at groundwater's uses, including drinking water, and its role in sustaining the health of surface waterbodies (rivers, streams, wetlands, marshes).
The Sole Source Aquifer Program,
Source Water Protection Program, and Wellhead Protection Program
all are intended to protect a drinking water supply. The programs
generally are compatible with the Comprehensive State Groundwater
Protection Program, but are applied to very defined geographic
areas...
..
The Sole Source Aquifer Program applies to the aquifer
boundaries.
..
The Source Water Protection Program applies to water that
drains into a reservoir (used as a
drinking water source) or
intake.
..
The Wellhead Protection Program applies to defined wellhead
areas.
Special issues.
Although groundwater programs are often used within the watershed
framework, there are some issues that may arise as you attempt to
integrate them. These issues have been listed to simply make you aware of
them. Each is best addressed through cooperation and consensus.
..
Water quality use designations often do not reflect the
presence of groundwater intakes for
drinking water.
..
Water quality criteria and drinking water maximum contaminant
levels (MCLs) often are not
consistent in terms of chemical
specific values and parameters.
..
Minor dischargers and permitted management measures under
the NPDES program may not
sufficiently reduce the risk to
drinking water intakes.
..
Where agriculture activities are reducing drinking water quality,
changes in management practices may or may not take a long
time to result in water quality
improvements depending on
weather, geography etc.
..
Source water areas for groundwater drinking supplies (wellhead
areas) generally do not coincide with
surface water drainage
areas.
..
Long-term drinking water treatment may be necessary for
certain public water supply systems
because of the nature of
the contaminant sources and the size
of the contributing area.
Additional information
State Sources
..
Public Health Agency
..
Water Quality Agency
..
Environmental Agency
Local Sources
..
Natural Resource Conservation Service
..
Conservation District
..
Extension Office
..
Water Utility
Management Tools.
There are many, many tools that can be used to manage groundwater
resources. Before discussing this list of possible tools, your partnership
will benefit from designating current and future uses of groundwater. Does
it feed a lake used for swimming? Will urban growth require it to be used
for drinking water?
With this in mind, your partnership might want to use this list of tools as a starting place for discussion. You may use several or may decide on another viable option.
Zoning: Regulations are used to segregate different, and possibly conflicting, activities into different areas of a community. This approach can be limited in its ability to protect groundwater due to "grandfather" provisions.
Overlay Water Resource Protection Districts: Similar to zoning regulations in their goals of defining the resource, these ordinances and bylaws map zones of contributing boundaries and enact specific legislation for land uses and development within these boundaries.
Prohibition of Some Land Uses: These are not typically considered very creative tools. However, prohibition of land uses such as gas stations, sewage treatment plants, landfills, or the use/storage/transport of toxic materials is a first step towards the development of a comprehensive groundwater protection strategy.
Special Permitting: The special permitting process can be used to regulate uses and structures that may potentially degrade water and land quality.
Large Lot Zoning: Large lot zoning seeks to limit groundwater resource degradation by reducing the number of buildings and septic systems within a groundwater protection area.
Eliminating/Modifying Septic Systems: Septic system problems can be reduced or eliminated by extending or developing community sewage treatment systems. Other options include specifying minimum design requirements like mound systems.
Transfer of Development Rights: A government entity prepares a plan designating land parcels from which development rights can be transferred to other areas. This allows land uses to be protected (i.e. for a gas station) while assuring that these uses are outside sensitive areas.
Growth Control/Timing: Growth controls are used to slow or guide a community's growth, ideally in concert with its ability to support growth. One important consideration is the availability of groundwater.
Performance Standards: This assumes that any given resource has a threshold, beyond which it deteriorates to an unacceptable level. Performance standards assume that most uses are allowable in a designated area, provided that the use or uses do not and will not overload the resource. With performance standards, it is important to establish critical threshold limits as the bottom line for acceptability.
Underground Storage Tanks:
Three additional protection measures are often adopted to enhance local
water resource protection. They include:
..
Prohibit new residential underground storage tanks
..
Remove existing residential underground storage tanks
..
Prohibit all new underground storage tank installation in
groundwater and surface water
management areas
Septic System Maintenance: Septic system maintenance is frequently overlooked. Many times the system will not function properly, causing "breakout" of solids at the surface, which can lead to bacterial contamination. In addition, when systems fail, any additives used can become contaminants.
Land Donations: Land owners are often in the position of being able to donate some land to the community or to a local land trust.
Conservation Easements: Conservation easements allow for a limited right to use the land. Easements can effectively protect critical lands from development.
Purchase Lands: Many communities purchase selected parcels of land that are deemed significant for resource protection.
Well Construction/Closure Standards: Wells are a direct conduit to groundwater. Standards for new well construction, as well as identification and closure of abandoned wells, can prevent groundwater from being contaminated.
Information provided by: http://www.ctic.purdue.edu