Protecting Public Drinking Water Sources
Based on Source Assessment Reports

In recent years, DES prepared Source Assessment Reports for all public water supply sources in service as of December 31, 2001 and for most community sources that have come on line since then. The assessment reports were sent to each respective water supplier and planning board. Community water suppliers are in turn required to notify their customers of the availability of the assessment reports by including a note in their annual Consumer Confidence Reports. A town-by-town summary of the results has been sent to each planning board and can be obtained from DES or viewed on the department’s website at www.des.nh.gov/dwspp/part1.htm.

The assessment reports rate each water supply source’s vulnerability to contamination in terms of up to 13 criteria, or threat categories. For each criterion, the water supply source receives a high, medium, or low vulnerability rating. The ratings are based on information in DES’s databases, an on-site survey of critical land uses in the source protection area, and other studies.

This fact sheet provides a quick overview of the relationship between Source Assessment Report results and local protection approaches that may be appropriate to address the types of threats identified in the assessments. To use this fact sheet, refer to an assessment report’s ranking (high, medium, or low) for each criterion. If the water supply source received a medium or high ranking for a particular criterion, refer to Table 1 to see the typical protection approaches that can be employed to address that category of threat. For a quick explanation of each approach listed in the second column of Table 1, refer to Table 2.

Table 2 summarizes the protection measures that DES recommends water suppliers and municipalities consider employing. Because designing an effective source protection program involves an in-depth understanding of threats and there is no single set of protection measures that fits every situation, DES recommends involving a wide range of interests within the community to develop a program that is consistent with community goals and values. Such a program will consequently have broad support and excellent chances for success.

DES can provide a substantial amount of assistance to water suppliers and municipalities interested in both evaluating the need for drinking water protection and developing a protection program tailored to local needs. DES’s assistance can take the form of planning and implementation grants, maps showing drinking water resources and threats, publications that describe the following protection approaches in detail, training, and one-on-one consultations. For more information, contact Paul Susca or Pierce Rigrod in the Drinking Water Source Protection Program at (603) 271-7061 or (603) 271-0688, or visit our internet site at www.des.nh.gov/dwspp.

For Additional Information
Please contact the Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau at (603) 271-2513 or dwgbinfo@des.state.nh.us or visit our website at www.des.nh.gov/dwgb. All of the bureau’s fact sheets are on-line at www.des.nh.gov/dwg.htm.

Note: This fact sheet is accurate as of January 2007. Statutory or regulatory changes, or the availability of additional information after this date may render this information inaccurate or incomplete.