Who is eligible for Wellhead Protection Program offered by VDH?
Community waterworks that serve a population of less than 3,300 people, utilize a groundwater source for drinking water, and are located in the Piedmont, Blue Ridge, Valley and Ridge or Cumberland Plateau Provinces of Virginia are eligible to participate in the VDH Wellhead Protection Program. The above figure shows all of the groundwater sources that are eligible for the program. A listing of the eligible waterworks is available from the VDH.
What does the Wellhead Protection Program Offer?
As part of this program, a contractor, hired by VDH, offers technical assistance through each of the steps of developing a wellhead protection plan including:
For more information about the program see the program brochure and the program contact.
Is a Wellhead Protection Program required for Community Waterworks?
No, this is a voluntary program. The program benefits small community public water systems and their users by providing the opportunity to identify and proactively plan measures to prevent contamination of their drinking water. See the Wellhead Protection Plan Development Approach to view some of descriptions of these beneficial source water protection measures. These benefits are available at no cost to the public water system since the contractor’s fees are paid by VDH. Community waterworks that do not participate in the program may have a higher risk of having a drinking water source contaminated because they did not plan to manage potential sources of contamination.
How much time and resources are small community waterworks required to commit to the Program?
The Program is paid for by the VDH, so small PWS’s receive the contractor’s service in developing the Wellhead Protection Plan free of charge. The time commitment is minimal compared to the time commitment of cleaning up contamination of a drinking water source. The Wellhead Protection Plan can usually be developed in two or three community meetings of several hours each. Each public water system is different and faces different source water protection challenges, so the time involved by the PWS and committee members varies. Once the plan is in place, the time and money involved in implementing the source water protection items is based on the schedule established by the public water system. See the opportunities for funding page for financial assistance available to assist with plan implementation.