Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWPS2) Guide For Municipalities

The Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) is a locally led, state-supported program that empowers municipalities to take action to improve and protect their public water supplies and surrounding environment. Free technical assistance is offered to develop and implement community-specific drinking water source protection programs. This guide highlights what municipal officials and water operators need to know about participating in DWSP2. If you are interested in the program, fill out our Interest Form today.

Why Participate in the Drinking Water Source Protection Program

Participating municipalities will receive a better understanding and enhance protections of their drinking water source(s). The free technical assistance provided by the Drinking Water Source Protection Program helps take the complexity and guesswork out of developing a drinking source water protection plan. The program provides assistance with and helps identify:

• Updating source water maps
• Potential contaminant sources
• Protection and management methods
• Applicable funding sources for implementation

DWSP2 is designed to use local knowledge to build off previous work, help align priorities, and fill any gaps within a municipality's current and future source water protection efforts. This provides safer water for your community and helps to avoid preventable costs associated with drinking water treatment. Municipalities participating in the Drinking Water Source Protection Program - along with their neighboring communities - are:

• Promoting public health and safety
• Supporting economic viability
• Enhancing environmental protection and recreational opportunities
• Strengthening community partnerships and collaboration

If you are ready to leave a lasting legacy by participating in DWSP2 - New York's locally led, state-supported source water protection program - fill out our Interest Form.

What a Municipality Can Expect from DWSP2

The backbone of your drinking water source protection program is a plan. A drinking water source protection plan provides your municipality with a road map to maintaining and protecting your source of drinking water. Each DWSP2 plan is tailored to the goals and concerns of your community and your drinking water source(s) to provide a holistic and comprehensive approach that builds off protection efforts your community already has in place. Communities can expect to receive:

• Free technical assistance throughout the entire DWSP2 Plan development process
• Flexible schedule for communities to continue meeting other priorities
• Mapping the drinking water source and surrounding area
• Inventory of potential contaminant sources surrounding the drinking water source
• Actionable list of source water protection methods
• Guidance on funding sources and strategies for implementing source water protection actions
• Free technical assistance to start plan implementation

Costs Associated with DWSP2 Plan Development

There are no out-of-pocket costs to communities for the development of a DWSP2 plan. Municipalities are expected to commit time and local knowledge to work with a free technical assistance (TA) provider who will guide you through DWSP2 plan development.

Increase Your Municipality's Funding Opportunities

During the development of a Drinking Water Source Protection Program plan, a municipality's technical assistance provider will help them identify feasible implementation actions and applicable funding sources. The main priority of DWSP2 is for municipalities to implement their source water protection methods. DWSP2 helps take the guesswork out of identifying funding sources and each municipality will be positioned to apply for the funding needed to implement their source water protection program.

To find applicable federal, state, and regional funding sources to which municipalities can apply and receive help when implementing their DWSP2 Plans, view the NYSDEC Funding Finder.

In addition, select State grant programs are now offering additional points - including the Climate Smart Communities (CSC) Program and Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) Program - for State accepted DWSP2 Plans.

How to start DWSP2 in your municipality

Municipal officials who are interested should fill out our Interest Form or reach out to the State at [email protected] to discuss how the program might fit their needs and request an information session that establishes what to expect from the DWSP2 process. The short application form briefly outlines background information about your water system and any concerns or needs with the water source that you would like to address.

Phases of the DWSP2 Process

With guidance from a cost-free technical assistance provider, your municipality will follow the DWSP2 Framework (PDF), outlined below, to develop a drinking water source protection plan. The purpose of this process is to prepare your municipality for plan implementation to protect your source(s) of drinking water.

Plan Preparation

• Completing the Overview of the Water System Worksheet: Your municipality will complete the Overview of the Water System worksheet prior to plan development. This one-page worksheet gathers the necessary data to kick off the plan.

Plan Development

Plan development steps are not linear and can be completed in the order that is most efficient for each municipality.

• Prepare drinking water source protection maps: Your TA provider will delineate and map your municipality's source water areas to help your stakeholder group visualize the drinking water sources and identify neighboring communities that may need to be involved.
• Form a stakeholder group: Your municipality and TA provider will identify interested parties that could provide relevant expertise to help you in DWSP2 planning and/or would be involved in protection strategies that you implement later.
• Formulate the vision and goals: Your municipality and identified stakeholders will determine goals and a vision statement that help guide source water efforts specific to your community.
• Inventory potential contaminant sources: Your stakeholder group and TA provider will use a combination of available data and local knowledge to identify potential contaminant sources around your drinking water source.
• Complete drinking water source protection maps: Your stakeholder group and TA provider will use a combination of available data and local knowledge to update and complete source water maps.
• Identify protection and management methods: Your stakeholder group and TA provider will identify current and future source water protection methods, specific to your community's needs.
• Develop an implementation timeline: Your stakeholder group and TA provider will create an implementation timeline - including a step-by-step process, cost analysis, and identification of potential funding sources - to guide implementation of protection and management methods.
• Finalize plan: Your stakeholder group and TA provider will compile the report, designate members to the plan management team, and submit for review to the state DWSP2 team.

Plan Implementation

• Implement plan: Your plan management team, with limited assistance from a TA provider, will implement the protection and management methods developed in your plan, utilizing the identified steps, cost analysis, and funding sources from the DWSP2 plan.

Plan Progression

• Update and monitor plan progress: The plan management team will keep your municipality's implementation methods moving forward, provide updates to your stakeholder group, and monitor outcomes.

To better understand the roles and responsibilities within the DWSP2 plan process, read the DWSP2 Roles and Responsibilities Guide (PDF).

DWSP2 Plan Development Timeframe

On average, initial plan development takes about 14-16 months. Plan implementation occurs on an ongoing basis depending on a schedule set by the municipality.

Who to include in the DWSP2 Process

Communities may build a stakeholder group from an existing board/commission or create an entirely new group, keeping in mind that it is important to include a wide range of stakeholders early in the process, such as local officials, water operations staff, local health departments, conservation advisory committee members, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, etc. The community should make efforts to engage as many stakeholders as they deem necessary to create a comprehensive and lasting protection plan. Find our recommendations on diversifying your stakeholder group within our EJ Community Fact Sheet (PDF). The size of the stakeholder group may vary. Additional examples of DWSP2 stakeholder group members can be found in the DWSP2 Framework (PDF).

Why Your Municipality Needs Drinking Water Source Protection

Even though your drinking water source may be clean, DWSP2 is ideal for communities that want to preserve their clean drinking water. The program is designed to build off previous work, help align priorities, and fill any gaps within a municipality's current source water protection efforts. Current DWSP2 municipalities report that the program helps them connect with their constituents on the topic of protecting source water. Additionally, participating municipalities have created and strengthened connections with community partners.

Locally Led, State Supported Source Water Protection

The longevity and safety of a community's drinking water relies on the quality and protection of its source. While all public water is treated and tested to ensure that what comes out of the faucet is safe to drink, proactive measures and preventative actions are needed to protect the source and fall within local control.

If your municipality is interested in the program, fill out our Interest Form today.