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  1. Home
  2. Source Water Protection (SWP)

Resources for Source Water Protection Planning

On this page:

  • EPA Resources
  • Other Resources

EPA Resources

  • Consider the Source: A Pocket Guide to Protecting Your Drinking Water - The Consider the Source guide provides step-by-step instructions for conducting a source water assessment and developing a comprehensive source water protection program. It includes helpful information on funding sources, a best management practices for source water protection guide, and overviews of related environmental regulations and programs. 
  • How to Manual: Update and Enhance Your Local Source Water Protection Assessment - Developed in 2006, the How to Manual provides useful information for conducting a source water assessment and presents reasons and opportunities to update state assessments completed in the early 2000s.
  • Rural Community Assistance Corporation (RCAC) and Environmental Finance Center (EFC), Tribal Source Water Plan Guidance - The Tribal Source Water Protection Plan Guidance is a source water/wellhead protection plan guidance document tailored to tribal water systems. This document includes fill-in tables and attachments to guide tribal source water protection planning.
  • Resources for Watershed Planning - This site provides access to several resources on watershed planning and development of watershed protection plans.
  • Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters - This handbook provides detailed guidance on developing and implementing watershed plans that restore and protect water quality, drawing from EPA's 9-element framework. It includes step-by-step instructions on building watershed partnerships, conducting watershed characterizations and pollutant inventories, estimating pollutant loads, setting goals and objectives, identifying management strategies, implementation, and program evaluation. A comprehensive set of worksheets and checklists are available in the appendices.
  • A Quick Guide to Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters - This companion document to the 2008 Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters provides a streamlined, easy-to-read summary of the Handbook. It provides a brief guide to watershed planning and highlights useful case examples of watershed-related initiatives.
  • Planning for Emergency Drinking Water Supply - Large-scale disasters can cause significant disruptions to water services. This resource helps drinking water and wastewater utilities develop an emergency water supply plan.
  • Advancing Watershed Protection through Land Conservation: A Guide for Land Trusts (PDF) - This resource guide is intended to serve as a starting point for land trust staff unfamiliar with the Clean Water Act and EPA programs, but whose organizations are interested in integrating water quality protection in their efforts to conserve and steward lands and conduct community outreach. The conservation of natural lands provides a multitude of economic and social benefits, including source water protection. The reduction of contamination at the source protects drinking water quality and lessens the need for costly or complicated changes to drinking water treatment methods. This guide covers fundamental topics such as key watershed terms, the watershed approach, EPA water programs and sources of funding for land conservation projects, prioritizing lands and stewardship actions for water quality protection, and communication tools. It also includes real-life examples of water-centric work pursued by land trusts.

Other Resources

The following links exit the site 
You may need a PDF reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.

  • Strategic Management and Available Resources and Technology (SMART) about Water Program  - The SMART about Water Program was an EPA-funded project developed by the National Environmental Services Center (NESC) and the Rural Community Assistance Partnership (RCAP). It provides technical and training resources about source water and wellhead protection planning designed for use in small and rural communities, including a training curriculum with instructional materials (e.g., power point presentations and worksheets), evaluation forms, and background information.
  • Source Protection Handbook: Using Land Conservation to Protect Local Drinking Water Supplies - This guide makes the case for protecting source water through land conservation and protection of watershed natural assets. It presents an approach for building a source water protection plan, including steps for prioritizing protection, building partnerships, and utilizing financing mechanisms. It also provides case studies.
  • Path to Protection: Ten Strategies for Successsful Source Water Protection - This companion resource to the Source Water Protection Handbook summarizes findings based on experiences from five source water protection pilot projects.  It proposes ten strategies to help more state and local governments on the path to source water protection.
  • Protecting the Source - This report explores scientific, economic, and public health rationales for using land conservation for drinking water protection and presents best practices for implementation locally. 

Learn more about source water protection and planning.

Source Water Protection (SWP)

  • Basic Information
    • How You Can Help Protect Source Water
    • Common Considerations
  • Partnerships
  • Assess, Plan, and Protect Source Water
    • Source Water Assessments
    • Delineate the Source Water Protection Area
    • Determine Susceptibility to Contaminant Sources
    • Engage the Public
    • Inventory Potential Contaminant Sources
    • Source Water Protection Planning
    • Source Water Protection Practices
    • Evaluate Progress Toward Source Water Protection Goals
  • Drinking Water Mapping Application to Protect Source Waters (DWMAPS)
  • Preparing for Emergencies
  • Resources for Source Water Protection
  • Source Water Protection Funding
    • Protecting Drinking Water with DWSRF Set-Asides
  • Regional Source Water Coordinators
Contact Us About Source Water Protection
Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem.
Last updated on October 28, 2024
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