AWWA SYM53630

AWWA SYM53630 The District of Columbia's Source Water Assessment: A Multi-State Coordination Project
Conference Proceeding by American Water Works Association, 01/01/2001

Bekele, Jerusalem;Vann, David T.;Steiner, Roland C.;Mac Millan, Frederick N.

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The District of Columbia's public water supply and treatment system, the Washington Aqueduct,is one of the oldest public water systems in the United States, serving the Nation's Capital since1859. The Aqueduct was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who have managed thesystem for over 140 years. The District of Columbia's Source Water Assessment (SWA), beingconducted in accordance with Section 1453 of the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of1996, is unique in that its drinking water intakes and source water area are located outside itsborders. The Aqueduct's source water comes from the Potomac River, and its intakes, located inthe state of Maryland, are influenced by four upstream states; Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia,and Pennsylvania. To conduct its source water assessment, the District of Columbia must carryout a high degree of cross-border coordination with states in the Potomac River Basin.The District of Columbia Department of Health (DCDoH) has received a grant from the Environmental Protection AgencyRegion III to implement its SWA. DCDoH has enlisted the assistance of the InterstateCommission on the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) to carry out the source water area delineation,the identification of potential sources of contamination and the susceptibility analysis includingthe prediction of contaminant concentration using the Potomac portion of the Chesapeake BayProgram Watershed Model. Towards this effort, DCDoH and ICPRB have developedcooperative relationships with the SWA program personnel in each of the states in the PotomacRiver Basin upstream of the intakes and with supporting federal agencies. The EPA Region IIIhas been instrumental in fostering the cooperation and exchange of information among DCDoH,the states, ICPRB, and federal agencies. Throughout the development of the SWA the District ofColumbia will maintain a strong stakeholder involvement. The Washington MetropolitanCouncil of Governments, a regional agency of counties and cities, is coordinating the publicparticipation aspects of the SWA.