In 1996 the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) was amended
to provide communities with more information about the
ways in which they can protect their drinking water
sources from contamination. The amendments require states
to create a Source Water Assessment Program for all
their public drinking water systems. Private wells typically
serving single households are not included in this requirement.
![American Ground Water Trust - Public Water Supply Source photo montage.](images/PubWaSupplySource_sm.jpg)
The purpose of the program is to provide local leaders,
water suppliers, and citizens with the information necessary
to protect public drinking water sources from contamination.
Through this program, state drinking water programs
are responsible for:
- identifying the land areas which provide water
to each public drinking water source in their state;
- completing an inventory of existing and potential
sources of contamination in those areas;
- determining the susceptibility of each drinking
water system to contamination; and
- releasing the results of the assessment to water
users and other interested entities.
![Diagram of Contamination Sources.](images/ContamSources_sm.jpg)
All six New England States developed plans for carrying
out the assessments. As of August 2003, the States of
New Hampshire, Connecticut and Maine completed assessments
of all their drinking water sources. The states of Massachusetts,
Rhode Island and Vermont expect to complete their assessments
within the next year.
Businesses play an important role in protecting drinking
water sources. To learn about what businesses can do,
click here. To learn
about national efforts to assess drinking water sources
or to learn about publications available from EPA about
drinking water source protection click here .
To learn more about your state's Source Water Assessment
Program in New England, please call your state
source water assessment program manager or staff
at the EPA Region 1, New England Office.
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