Division of Drinking Water outlines source-protection zones, plans and interactive map

Melissa Noble, source-water coordinator for the Utah Division of Drinking Water, briefed the state council on the state’s drinking water source protection program, how protection zones are delineated for groundwater and surface water, and what public water systems must include in a source-protection plan.

Noble introduced herself and her role before explaining the program’s legal foundation, noting that the Safe Drinking Water Act led to wellhead-protection requirements and source-water assessments for all drinking-water sources. "My name is Melissa Noble. I work with the division of drinking water," she said.

Nut graf: The division requires public drinking-water systems to map protection zones, inventory potential contamination sources, document existing controls, and adopt management strategies for uncontrolled risks; the division also maintains an interactive DEQ map that displays protection zones and contact information for systems.

Noble described how the state delineates groundwater zones by hydrogeologic analysis and time-of-travel: Zone 1 is a fixed radius (100 feet) around the well or spring; Zone 2 is a 250‑day time‑of‑travel area; Zone 3 is a 3‑year time of travel; and Zone 4 is a 15‑year time of travel. For surface water, delineation is based on the high‑water mark with a half‑mile buffer for Zone 1, a 15‑mile reach plus 100‑foot buffers for Zone 1 ends, Zone 2 extending up to a 50‑mile reach with 1,000‑foot buffers in some cases, Zone 3 as a 500‑foot buffer to watershed limits, and Zone 4 as the remainder of the watershed.

"Zone 1 is a fixed radius, which is a hundred feet right around the well or spring. Zone 2 is a 250 day time of travel," Noble said, underlining that delineations depend on aquifer characteristics and pumping data and that professional geologists or engineers must complete or certify many delineations.

She said each public drinking-water system must prepare a source-protection plan that includes an inventory of potential contamination sources (agriculture, septic systems, roads, industry, household hazardous waste, pesticides and fertilizers), an assessment of current controls (regulatory, best management practices, physical controls, or negligible quantities), and management strategies for uncontrolled sources. Plans must be updated every six years and should document implementation steps (ordinances enacted, agreements obtained, education campaigns, monitoring set up).

Noble introduced the DEQ interactive map (an integrated map containing layers from multiple DEQ divisions). The map can show groundwater and surface-water protection zones, system contact information and planned or existing project layers; users can draw polygons, search by county or watershed and click protection zones to find system contacts. She said the map is useful both for council meetings and for local land-use authorities deciding how to reference protection areas in ordinances.

Council members asked about wildfire as a contamination source for surface-water supplies and about how enforcement works when an ordinance is violated. Noble said wildfire effects are a recognized potential contaminant and suggested it as a follow-up topic for vulnerability assessments; she said counties and municipalities typically incorporate source-protection maps into local ordinances and that land-use agreements and ordinances are among the most protective tools available. She noted that 17 of 29 counties and roughly 150 municipalities already have some level of source-protection ordinance; the 2010 legislative requirement covered first- and second‑class counties specifically.

Ending: Noble offered ongoing assistance to watershed councils, including technical help, DEQ map access and contacts for water systems; she said the division will continue to attend council meetings on request.