United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Water
(4204)
Washington, D.C. 20460
EPA 832-F-00-001
vvEPA
Protecting Drinking Water with the
Clean Water State Revolving Fund
Safe drinking water is one of the most
fundamental resources for the protection of
public health. About 250 million people in
the United States get their drinking water from
a public water system. The Safe Drinking
Water Act (SDWA) Amendments of 1996
developed a new tool for the protection of
drinking waterthe Source Water Assessment
and Protection Program. Through this
program, state drinking water agencies assess
the threats to each community's drinking
water. Communities and public water systems
can then work together to decide how to best
protect drinking water sources.
Funds are available from the Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) to finance a
variety of assessment and protection activities.
States can use DWSRF funds to manage their
source water protection programs and conduct
assessments. States can also provide loans to
water systems to acquire land needed for
protection and implement protection measures.
However, the Clean Water State Revolving
Fund (CWSRF) program authorized by the
Clean Water Act can also be a powerful tool to
help states finance a variety of protection
activities. The CWSRF program can provide
assistance to communities, water systems, and
other organizations (including land
conservation associations), for projects that
protect source water and enhance water
quality.
Diagram*!
Figure 1
What Is A Source Water Assessment?
Source water is the water from the rivers, streams,
lakes and ground water that your system uses to
supply your community with drinking water.
Each state will perform source water assessments
between 2000 and 2003, as required by SDWA.
Although each state may take a different
approach, assessments generally involve four
steps:
1. Identify the source -water protection area.
For each ground water well or surface water
intake, the land area that contributes water to
the drinking water supply is identified and
mapped (Figure 1). Contaminants from land
uses and spills within this area could threaten
water pulled into the well or intake.
2. Identify contaminant threats to the source
water. This inventory identifies land uses or
activities in the source water protection area
that could potentially contaminate the
drinking water supply. (Figure 2) A list of
types of facilities and activities, with
contaminants they may release, can be found
atwivw.epa.gov/safewater/swp/intro4.html.
3. Determine susceptibility of source -water to
contamination. Through analysis of
contaminant threats in the source water
protection area and other factors, a state can
determine the susceptibility of the source
water to contamination. This determination
helps to identify priority protection actions
that a community could take to prevent
contaminants from reaching source water.
4. Mahs information available to the public.
After the state completes the assessments, the
information for each water system is
summarized and made available to the
public. This information is a valuable
starting point for local communities to take
an active role in protecting source water and
preventing contamination of their drinking
water.
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Figure 2
What is Source Water Protection ?
The protection activities that a community
pursues will depend on the needs of the
community. The following is a list of some of
Tthe common protection measures communities
have used to protect their source water.
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> Managing Contaminants - Projects can
;:S!|li ...... ,. |educs ..... the ..... threat , of contamination through
cleanup or remediation of pollution.
Development of management plans can
control non-point and point sources of
pollution that threaten source water
quality (See Box 1).
~ J V - . -. . - .
V-
Use Prohibitions -Local ordinances can
be used to prohibit the storage or use of
dangerous materials in a protection area.
Zoning Ordinances - By defining the
types of activity that can occur within a
district and specifying appropriate
regulations, a community can prevent
activities that could be harmful to drinking
watei;. A compendium of ordinances that
exist around the country can be found at
www.epa.gov/r5water/ordcom.
Subdivision Ordinances - Subdivision
ordinances ...... can,, be used to set housing
density standards, require open space set-
asides, and regulate the tuning of
development and growth in a community.
Purchase of Property or Development
Rights - A community can establish
control over the activities in a source
water protection area by using funds to
acquire land or conservation easements.
Public Education - Activities such as
developing fact sheets and posters or holding
workshops or fairs can build community
support for protection.
Local Health Regulations - Local regulatory
measures such as sanitary setbacks can avoid
contamination by preventing the installation
of septic tanks close to a drinking water well.
Boxl
Managing Contaminants With
CWSRF Funds
Removal of leaking underground storage
tank (UST) and remediation of
contaminated soil and ground water.
Nebraska and Wyoming have used the
CWSRF for numerous UST projects.
Remediation of contamination from
underground injection wells and/or
inactive municipal hazardous waste sites
has been funded by the New York CWSRF
program.
Agricultural best management practices
(BMPs) such as:
No-till equipment to reduce runoff to
surface drinking water supplies or
Manure management measures for
animal feeding operations (AFOs).
Minnesota's CWSRF has given loans for
thousands of thesis types of projects.
Landfill monitoring wells and upgrades.
Three Alaskan cities have used the
CWSRF to fund landfill-related projects.
Restoration of wetlands. Washington
loaned CWSRF money to the City of Port
Townsend to preserve wetlands.
Septic tanks. CWSRFs in Massachusetts
and Maine have funded the replacement of
failed individual siystems. Delaware is
using the CWSRF to provide incentives to
repair failing septic systems.
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Financing Source Water Protection...
The Clean Water State Revolving Fund
For more than 10 years, the CWSRF
program has been financing projects to
protect the quality of surface water and
ground water throughout the country. The
SRF programs in each state and Puerto Rico
operate like banks. Federal and state
contributions are used to capitalize or set up
the programs. These assets, in turn, are used to
make low or no-interest loans for important
water quality projects. Funds are then repaid
to the CWSRF over terms as long as twenty
years. Repaid funds are recycled to fund other
water quality projects. States develop annual
Intended Use Plans (lUPs) that describe how
they will use funds in the program to support
water quality objectives.
Capacity of the CWSRF
Nationally, the CWSRF has in excess of $30
billion in assets and has issued $26 billion in
loans since 1988. The CWSRF currently is
funding nearly $3 billion worth of water
quality projects annually. Clearly, the CWSRF
can be a powerful financial resource for
funding source water protection projects.
Who May Qualify
The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1987
authorized the CWSRF to fund point source
(ง212), nonpoint source (ง319), and estuary
(ง320) projects. The CWSRF may fund source
water protection projects for eligible loan
recipients, including public water systems,
community groups, individuals, conservation
districts, and nonprofit organizations.
The CWSRF allows funding for a wide variety
of protection projects. However, since the
program is managed by the states, project
funding varies according to the priorities,
policies, and laws within each state. The types
of applicants eligible for assistance may also
vary by state.
Getting a Project Funded
Given that each state administers its own
CWSRF program differently, the first step in
seeking a CWSRF loan is to contact a state
CWSRF representative - who can be found on
the CWSRF website
www.epa.gov/owm/finan.htm Your state
representative will be able to guide you through
the proper channels. Here are some suggested
questions to ask your representative:
* Has the state committed to funding source
water protection activities in its CWSRF
IUP?
* If not, what can I do to help get these projects
listed on the IUP?
* Can an individual or private entity receive a
CWSRF loan for source water protection
activities?
> If not, can I receive a CWSRF loan through
my county?
Sources of Loan Repayment
Success Story
Pine Barrens, New York
The ground water aquifer beneath the Pine
Barrens of New York is the sole source
water aquifer for 2.6 million people in the
region. Road construction, housing and
commercial development have vastly
reduced the rate at which water recharges
the underlying aquifer. At the same time,
water continues to be withdrawn at an
increasing rate as population and
commercial/industrial activity increases.
Salt water intrusion can occur in coastal
areas when recharge cannot keep up with
withdrawal. An additional impact of
increased development is that septic tank
effluent can move through the porous soils
of the Pine Barrens and reach the aquifer
relatively untreated.
The New York CWSRF program made a
loan of $75 million to Suffolk County for
land acquisition in the Pine Barrens
Wilderness and Water Protection Preserve
on Long Island. The acquisition is part of a
larger plan by state, local and private
organizations to protect the main recharge
zone for Suffolk County's drinking water.
Each state must approve a source of loan
repayment as part of the application process.
Although finding a source of repayment can prove
challenging, it is not impossible. Many users of
the CWSRF have demonstrated a high level of
creativity in developing sources of repayment and
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have found that the source of repayment need
not come from the project itself.
Some potential repayment sources include:
^ property owner's ability to pay
i. MM -
(determined during loan application)
fees paid by developers
1 recreational fees (fishing licenses,
entrance fees)
4 dedicated portions of local, county, or
'iii state taxes or fees
4- drinking water fees
4 donations or dues made to nonprofit
-
4 storm water management fees
4 wastewater user charges
Success Story
Fresno, California
The Fresno Metropolitan Flood Control
District received a $20 million CWSRF
loan to implement non-point source control
measures hi the Central Fresno County
service area and regional ground water
basins, which serve as the primary source
of drinking water for the area. The
measures are intended to reduce run-off and
microbial pollutants from regional urban
and agricultural lands by constructing
treatment facilities and implementing
source control measures. The primary
strategy of the plan is to retain all runoff
within the District.
The SRF loan will support the construction
of thirty storm water retention/detention
facilities in the high growth perimeter of
the Fresno/Clovis metropolitan areas and
seven storm water quality control basins
along the San Joaquin River. The District
Board of Directors adopted a resolution
authorizing the repayment of the loan
through a Drainage Fee Ordinance.
Challenges Ahead
EPA encourages state;3 to open their CWSRFs to
the widest variety of water quality projects while
still addressing their highest priority projects.
Those interested hi so urce water protection should
seek out their CWSRF program, learn how their
state program works and participate in the annual
process mat determines which projects are
funded.
Other Federal Funding Sources
For additional information about funding
programs for water quality activities, including
source water protection, visit the EPA Watershed
Program page at
www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/.
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For more information about EPA programs, or for
a program representative hi your state, contact:
, Clean Water State Revolving Fund Branch
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Mailcode 4202)
Washington, D.C. 20460
Phone: (202) 260-7360 Fax: (202) 260-1827
www.epa.gov/owm/finan.htm
Clean Water
State Revolving Fund
Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program
U. S. Environmental Protection Agency
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Mailcode 4606)
Washington, D.C. 20460
Fax: (202) 401-2345
www.epa.gov/safewater/dwsrf.html
Source Water Program
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW (Mailcode 4606)
Washington D.C. 20460
Fax: (202) 260-0732
www.epa.gov/i5afewater/protect.html
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