State of Texas Source Water Assessment and Protection Program
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February 1999 STATE OF TEXAS SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT AND PROTECTION PROGRAM STRATEGY Water Utilities Division _________________________________________________________ _ STATE OF TEXAS SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT AND PROTECTION PROGRAM STRATEGY Prepared by The Source Water Assessment and Protection Team Public Drinking Water Section Water Utilities Division This project was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region VI February 1999 TNRCC Robert J. Huston, Chairman R.B. “Ralph” Marquez, Commissioner John M. Baker, Commissioner Jeffrey A. Saitas, P.E., Executive Director Authorization for use or reproduction of any original material contained in this publication, i.e., not obtained from other sources, is freely granted. The Commission would appreciate acknowledgment. Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission Post Office Box 13087 Austin, Texas 78711-3087 TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page 1 Overview of TNRCC’s Source Water Assessment and Protection Program ............................................... 1.1 Introduction ............................................... 1.1 Purpose of Document ......................................... 1.1 Background ................................................ 1.2 Legislative Commitments ................................ 1.2 Authority ............................................ 1.3 Funding ............................................. 1.4 Past Accomplishments .................................. 1.4 2 Program Coordination and Integration ............................... 2.1 TNRCC-USGS Partnership .................................... 2.1 Source Water Assessment and Protection and other Public Water Supply Supervision Program Implementation Efforts ................. 2.1 Source Water Assessment and Protection and Other State/Federal Agency Programs ............................................ 2.9 . Texas Ground Water Protection Committee ........................ 2.16 Texas Surface Water Protection Committee ........................ 2.17 Senate Bill 1 ................................................ 2.18 Multi-Jurisdictional Area Coordination ............................ 2.18 Interstate ............................................ 2.19 International .......................................... 2.20 Indian Tribes .......................................... 2.22 3 Public Participation ............................................... 3.1 Drinking Water Advisory Workgroup ............................. 3.1 Public Participation and Education Forum ......................... 3.2 Technical Steering Committee .................................. 3.4 Ongoing Public Outreach ...................................... 3.4 Web Site ............................................ 3.4 Public Workshops, Conferences, Meetings ................... 3.5 4 Assessment Component ............................................ 4.1 Overview .................................................. 4.1 5 Time Extension ............................................. 5.1 6 Source Water Assessment Phases and Priorities ................... 6.1 Initial Assessments — Phase I ............................. 6.1 Updating Assessments — Phase II ......................... 6.1 7 Priority for Completing Phase I Assessments ..................... 7.1 8 Source Water Assessment Program Maintenance ................. 8.1 Databases ............................................ 8.1 Assessment of Proposed Water Supplies ..................... 8.1 Updating Assessments of Existing Supplies ................... 8.1 9 Source Water Assessment Approach ............................ 9.1 10 Assessment Software and Database Structures ................... 10.1 11 Ground Water ............................................ 11.1 Identification Component ............................... 11.1 Create GIS Coverage of Public Supply Wells and Springs . 11.2 Develop Aquifer Categories Coverage of the Water Source 11.3 Contributing Area Delineation Component .................. 11.5 Unconfined Isotropic Aquifers ...................... 11.8 Confined Isotropic Aquifers ........................ 11.11 Alluvial Aquifers ................................ 11.12 Edwards Aquifer ................................ 11.14 Unknown Aquifers .............................. 11.15 Non-Point Source Component ........................... 11.18 Point-Source Component ............................... 11.44 Contaminant Occurrence Component ...................... 11.51 Attenuation of Contaminants ............................. 11.54 Soil Zone ...................................... 11.55 Vadose Zone ................................... 11.56 Aquifer Matrix ................................. 11.57 Susceptibility Summary Determination Component ............ 11.59 12 Surface Water ............................................. 12.1 Delineation Component ................................. 12.1 Locate Public Supply Intakes ....................... 12.2 Delineate Contributing Watershed ................... 12.4 Intrinsic Characteristics Component ....................... 12.16 Runoff ........................................ 12.16 Soil Erodibility ................................. 12.16 Beneficial Effects of Reservoirs ..................... 12.17 Time-of-Travel ................................. 12.17 Non-Point Source Component ........................... 12.21 Point Source Component ............................... 12.29 Contaminant Occurrence Component ...................... 12.36 Area-of-Primary Influence Component ..................... 12.39 Susceptibility Summary Determination Component ............ 12.42 13 Linking Source Water Assessments to Other Water Quality Assessment and Protection Efforts ...................................... 13.1 14 Area Wide Assessments ..................................... 14.1 15 Delegation of Assessments ................................... 15.1 16 Making Assessments Available to the Public .................... 16.1 17 Source Water Protection Component ................................ 17.1 Objectives for Source Water Protection .......................... 17.1 18 Source Water Protection Area Delineation ...................... 18.1 Ground Water Delineation .............................. 18.2 Surface Water Delineation .............................. 18.3 Mapping Tools ....................................... 18.4 19 PSOC Inventory ........................................... 19.1 20 Site-Specific Report ........................................ 20.1 21 Best Management Practices .................................. 21.1 22 Local Voluntary Partnerships ................................ 22.1 23 Implementation Timelines ................................... 23.1 24 Ground Water Protection (Wellhead Protection) ................. 24.1 25 Surface Water Protection .................................... 25.1 26 Updating/Refining Assessment and Protection Programs ................ 26.1 27 Reporting to EPA ................................................ 27.1 APPENDICES A. Acronyms and Glossary of Terms B. Drinking Water Constituent Groups C. Rules and Regulations for Public Water Systems D. Joint Funding Agreement with U.S. Geological Survey E. Public Participation and Education Forum Correspondence F. Technical Steering Committee Activities G. Public Outreach/Comment on Draft Submittal H. Source Water Protection PSOC Inventory Form I. Source Water Protection Public Education Outreach Articles J. Source Water Protection BMP Examples K. Source Water Protection Sample Contingency Plan L. Major & Minor Aquifer and Major River Basin Maps M. Ground Water Conservation District Map N. Volunteer Act Information About this Document This version of the Texas Source Water Assessment and Protection Program is provided as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file. There may be some formatting or pagination shifts from the original document. If you notice any of these shifts, please contact the TNRCC SWAP team at (512) 239-6050. This version only contains one appendix: Appendix A, Acronyms. The subsequent appendices could not be included for download since they do not exist in electronic form. You may obtain a copy of these appendices by calling the TNRCC Public Drinking Water Section at (512) 239-6050 or writing to the following address: SWAP Program Manager Public Drinking Water Section (MC-155) Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission P.O. Box 13087 Austin, Texas 78711-3087 Overview of TNRCC’s Source Water Assessment and Protection Program INTRODUCTION The 1996 Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act initiated a new era in cost-effective prevention of drinking water contamination, and in State flexibility and citizen involvement in drinking water programs. The new law strengthens protection for all members of the public, while allowing the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) to focus on the highest risks to human health and to develop responsible solutions. Source water protection is the centerpiece of the Act’s prevention focus and this Source Water Assessment and Protection (SWAP) Program Description reflects TNRCC’s commitment to those values as we continue to implement our responsibilities. The TNRCC’s Source Water Assessment and Protection Program addresses all of the requirements placed on a State by the Act to identify the areas that are sources of public drinking water, determine potential contaminants, assess water systems’ susceptibility to contamination, and inform the public of the results. TNRCC’s criteria for determining, and its form of expressing, relative susceptibility to different