Your community has a number of powers that can be used to protect
ground water. These include implementing zoning decisions,
developing land-use plans, overseeing building and fire codes,
implementing health requirements, supplying water and waste
disposal services, using its police powers to enforce regulations
and ordinances, educating the public about the importance of your
groundwater resource, and developing a wellhead protection program.
Local ground water protection tools include:
- Zoning ordinances to divide a municipality into land-use
districts and incompatible land uses such as residential,
commercial and industrial.
- Subdivision ordinances can be applied when a piece of land is
being divided into lots for sale or development to ensure that
growth does not outpace available local facilities and to set
density standards, requires open space set asides and to
regulate the timing of development.
- Household Hazardous waste collection to alleviate the threat
to ground water from the disposal in regular trash pick ups,
sewers, or septic systems of household products that contain
hazardous substances or other materials that can be harmful to
ground water such as paints, solvents, or pesticides.
- Site plan review can be used by your community to determine
if a proposed development project is compatible with existing
land uses in the surrounding areas and if existing community
facilities will be able to support the planned development.
- Public education, (e.g. holding groundwater festivals,
publicizing and using this software package), to build
community support for regulatory programs such as controls on
pollution sources in special zoning districts and to motivate
voluntary ground water protection efforts, such as water
conservation or household hazardous waste management.
- Operating standards can be used to limit threats to the
environment by specifying how an activity is to be conducted.
These can take the form of BMPs (i.e. limits on pesticide
applications or animal feedlot operations).
- Source prohibitions to prohibit the storage or use of
dangerous materials in defined areas.
- Purchasing property or development rights to guarantee
community control of activities on lands that feed water into
an aquifer.
- Ground water monitoring to assess the quality of local
aquifers by sampling public and private wells for selected
contaminants.
- Water conservation to reduce the total quantity of water
withdrawn from groundwater aquifers and to protect against
contamination by reducing the rate at which contaminants can
spread in the aquifer.
Individuals can participate and help ensure the success of local ground water
protection efforts by:
- Creating an inventory of injection wells so that problem wells can be
identified and corrective action implemented. Submit the inventory to your state or
regional EPA UIC program director.
- Getting involved in community efforts to identify shallow
injection wells and to evaluate their contamination potential.
If no such program exists, start one by enlisting the help of
other private wells owners in your community. Look for
multi-family developments, particularly those using cesspools,
and local businesses such as industrial plants, service stations
and dry cleaners. Inquire how they
dispose of the wastes they generate.
- Becoming a Groundwater Guardian community.
- Encouraging educators to implement a ground water education
program for children.
- Asking for a tour or educational presentation from your local water
superintendent or public health official.
- Setting up an educational presentation for your trade, civic or
professional organization related to ground water protection.
- Purchasing a ground water model for a school in your
area to demonstrate ground water principles.
- Participating in planning for environmentally sound waste management
facilities.
- Getting permission from the local Department of Public Works to
sponsor a program stenciling storm drains with "Dump No Waste - Drains to Stream."
- Sponsoring a public educational meeting regarding
ground water for well owners. Invite public health and ground water professionals as speakers.
- Distributing ground water information and household
hazardous chemical information at your city hall.
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