Enabling Source Water Protection:

Aligning State Land Use and Water Protection Programs

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Utah

Program Year: Two

Client: Division of Drinking Water (Department of Environmental Quality)
Click here for Utah's Final Report (PDF).

State-identified Need: Inform other state agencies of source water protection requirements and potential overlap with their own permitting and regulatory decision-making.

Castle Valley Ranch, Utah. Photo: Michael Patrick

Project Summary: Determine best opportunities for inter-agency communication and coordination, and develop recommendations to establish and maintain these relationships as a routine part of agency business.

Methodology: The project team conducted an initial research trip to conduct baseline interviews with staff from multiple state agencies, drinking water providers, local government associations, and non-profits. Additional research led to the development of a draft set of recommendations, which the team presented to a group of more than 30 staff from multiple state agencies with land use permitting and regulatory responsibilities. The workshop, designed to increase understanding of source water protection needs and opportunities for collaboration, also elicited additional suggestions to improve communications. The final report uses the results from this workshop to refine a series of final recommendations.

Recommendations: Final recommendations for Utah's Division of Drinking Water focused on three strategies to improve communication and coordination with other agencies:

• Educate state partners about the Drinking Water Source Protection Program. A common theme emerged from the June meeting: other agencies and divisions within the state want to incorporate source water considerations, but are not certain how to proceed. The Division of Drinking Water can give state partners information about source water protection issues, needs and programs, as well as basic tools to support ongoing communication among state and local partners.
• Share information about locations of source water protection areas and potential source water quality impacts. Utah has several excellent GIS-based tools to share information within and between agencies, but no tool is specifically designed to streamline the DDW task of identifying potential impacts to drinking water sources.
• Work with other DEQ Divisions to develop source water protection components of other water quality permitting programs.

FOR QUESTIONS:

Kelley Hart
(415) 495-4014, ext. 201

Elizabeth Schilling
(202) 207-3355, ext. 41