Full Description

The objective of this project was to understand and document the strategies of Quebec's small municipalities concerning wellhead protection in the context of emerging groundwater and drinking water regulations and to evaluate the effectiveness of the existing drinking water regulations. A questionnaire-based survey has been conducted in 665 municipalities. The emphasis has been directed at the municipalities' wellhead protection strategies before and after the newly-instated regulations, considering thatthe financial and technical resources of small municipalities for implementing environmental protection measures are very limited. Many of the surveyed municipalities are located in rural areas where agriculture is the primary economicactivity. That proximity between agricultural land and municipal wellheads may result in land use conflicts, which were also investigated during this study. The methodology includes the development of indicators of "performance" for municipal groundwater source protection. These indicators are associated, using statistical regression analysis, withinformation concerning boiling advisories, contaminant occurrence in source water and in distribution systems (coliformepisodes, nitrate concentrations, etc.), and anthropogenic pressures within the wellhead catchment areas. Variables for the latter information are generated through a geographic information system (GIS)-based analysis. According to the results of this study, regional priorities concerning strategies for the protection of groundwater sources are identified.These priorities include, among others, approaches for technical and financial support for small municipalities.

Product Details

Edition: Vol. - No. Published: 11/01/2005File Size: 1 file , 5.8 MB