Prototype Source-Water Assessment --
Fort George G. Meade, Maryland

WRD PROJECT #: MD122
PROJECT CHIEF: Fisher, Gary T.
BEGIN DATE: 15-July-1997
END DATE: 30-September-1998

Customers currently supporting the project:

U.S. Army Environmental Center (USAEC)
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM)

Problem

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has begun implementation of a program authorized by the 1996 Amendments to the Safe Water Drinking Act, to assess and protect source areas for public water supply. While the impact of these amendments on military facilities is not fully known, USAEC and USACHPPM recognize that it is in the best interest of the Army to ensure safe water quality for its personnel and operations. Within the scope of the amendments and in cooperation with state and local regulatory agencies, the Army desires to implement consistent and compatible source-water assessment and protection programs.

Military facility water supplies may be impacted not only by activities associated with the facility, but also by off-base activities on public and private lands and by both point and nonpoint sources of potential contamination. Evaluation of source areas in most cases will require a regional scope.

Objectives

Using Fort Meade as a prototype area, develop a template for source-water protection plans for military facilities.

Approach

The U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine (USACHPPM) has proposed a five-phase approach to develop a program suitable for use at Army facilities. This approach will be applied at the Fort Meade, Md, facility as a prototype and will be adjusted as necessary. Steps include:

1. Watershed (source-area) delineation;
2. Contaminant source inventory and assessment;
3. Water-quality monitoring;
4. Development and contingency planning measures;
5. Development of source management plans.

USGS will assist the project during steps 1 and 2, and in with the final USACHPPM report. Activities will include compilation of data on the watershed above the water-supply withdrawal points for Fort Meade, including land-use and point sources, existing water-quality data for the supplying streams, and in particular potential sources of contamination near Fort Meade. It is expected that most analyses can be performed using existing data from USGS or Fort Meade. Site visits will be conducted as appropriate to assess contamination potential for individual sources.

Part of step 2 will include an investigation of approaches to define a critical upstream reach of the supplying stream. An underlying assumption of source-area protection is that a governing entity can only protect sources within its own jurisdiction and must depend on other groups to ensure the quality of upstream waters. Defining the upstream reach that influences water quality at the point of water-supply withdrawal is crucial to achieving water quality goals. Existing USGS and other water-quality data will be evaluated to help define the critical reach.

Fort Meade is an excellent choice for prototype development because of its proximity to all cooperating agencies in this project, and because there is a considerable wealth of information available for the study area. USGS has conducted detailed investigations within the surrounding watershed for many years, and the State of Maryland has placed a particular emphasis on water resources in the watershed, which is a major growth area between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Fort Meade is a major water user with an independent treatment plant.

Because this is a prototype project, USAEC, USACHPPM, and USGS will work together to develop a detailed workplan and to modify the plan as appropriate. USEPA and the Maryland Department of the Environment guidance will be used when available, and standard engineering practices and judgement will be applied where clear guidelines do not exist.