Appendix A

Minutes
Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting
October 2, 1997

Phil Stump	Dept. of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division
Joe Evans	Wyoming County Commissioners Association
John Barnes	Wyoming State Engineer's Office
Chad Root	US Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII
David Zelenka	Wyoming Water Development Commission
Mike Hackett	Wyoming Water Development Commission
John Geidt	US Environmental Protection Agency, Region VIII
Michael Stull	Wyoming Association of Municipalities
Tom Clayson	Petroleum Association of Wyoming
Maggie Davison	Dept. of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division
Jake Strohman	Dept. of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division
Phil Ogle	Dept. of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division
Chuck Harnish	US Forest Service
Mark Opitz	Natural Resources Conservation Service
Rick Schuler	US Bureau of Land Management
Ken Hamilton	Wyoming Farm Bureau
Jim Bigelow	Wyoming Dept. of Agriculture
Kevin Frederick	Dept. of Environmental Quality/Water Quality Division

Schedule of Future Meetings and Submittals

The purpose of the next meeting will be to provide a forum for the exchange of information and discussions on concerns related to developing and implementing a source water assessment and protection program in Wyoming. The areas to be addressed are those that are identified as a result of responses provided by completion of the questionnaire being distributed with these minutes as Attachment 1.

Presentation of Source Water Assessment and Protection Program - EPA perspective

Mr. John Geidt of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8 office presented a Source Water Assessment and Protection Program overview. The major components of John's presentation can be found in the enclosed copy of his overheads (Attachment 2). The intent of the SWAP is to encourage the implementation, by public water suppliers, of management strategies for local source water protection. Additional discussions focused on how the SWAP program, which is mandatory in states where the state has primacy for the Drinking Water program, would be implemented here since Wyoming does not have primacy for the Drinking Water program. Wyoming, being a non-primacy state, is not required to conduct source water assessments. However, EPA did not receive funding to support source water assessments in Wyoming; therefore, if public water suppliers are to receive benefits such as monitoring waivers provided for in the amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act, the state and/or the water supplier must participate in the assessment and protection plan process. The DWSRF set-aside for Wyoming is $1.25 million. There is a 20% state match requirement. The set-aside funds are available to states during FY 1997 and 1998. After that time, there will be no federal monetary support available for conducting source water assessments.

Source Water Assessment in Wyoming: Exiting Conditions and Future Potential

Kevin Frederick of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality made a presentation on what has been achieved in Wyoming, to date, towards accomplishing the tasks set forth in the Source Water Assessment & Protection Guidance. He discussed the Wellhead Protection Plan and how it will be incorporated into the SWAP process. Demographics of the various types of drinking water systems in Wyoming (source types, populations served, community/non- community, transient/non-transient) were described. Benefits of conducting source water assessments and implementing source water protection plans were also discussed. For greater detail on Kevin's presentation, see Attachment 4.

Source Water Assessment Plans: Guidance and Requirements

Maggie Davison of the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality presented an explanation of the Source Water Assessment & Protection Program development process and the submittal to EPA of the program description, as conveyed in the EPA SWAP Guidance. Specific areas where the Advisory Committee plays a role were identified. These areas include: determining the approaches to be taken to facilitate public participation; determining advisory committee makeup; determining the approach to be taken to delineate source water protection areas; specifying the level of accuracy necessary in conducting inventories of potential sources and the method(s) to be used in conducting inventories of potential sources; determining the approach to assessing the susceptibility of a source water protection area; and deciding how assessments will be made available to the public, once conducted. An outline of this presentation is represented in Attachment 5.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in the Source Water Assessment & Protection Process

Chad Root with the US Environmental Protection Agency described training opportunities that EPA is sponsoring regarding the use of GIS in conducting source water assessment and developing source water protection strategies. There will be a workshop on using the ArcView software package for source water and well head protection in Denver on February 1, 1998. Also, a GIS users group is being formed of GIS specialists from various states for the purpose of exchanging information. This group will also be meeting on February 1, 1998.

Discussions:

Areas of discussion included the following:

Jake Strohman of the WDEQ described the state's plan, if the SRF set- aside becomes available, to conduct assessments for community water supplies and publicly-owned non-transient non-community water supply systems where the water supplier has requested to have an assessment done. It was planned that the performance of assessments would be accomplished through contracts. The fact that source water assessments are optional in Wyoming because of its non-primacy status was discussed.

The status of the draft legislation that would allow Wyoming access to the Safe Drinking Water Act SRF was discussed. The legislation is being reviewed by the Public Lands and Agriculture Committee. The committee is meeting on October 14th in Saratoga.

The consequence of the state not accessing the set-aside funds for conducting assessments is that the financial burden for a public water supply conducting an assessment will fall on the shoulders of the water supply. Monitoring relief will not be available to water supplies unless assessments are done. The question of how much money is needed to accomplish the assessments was asked.

The need for the coordination of meetings with agriculture groups such that information on source water assessments and their impact on agricultural interests could be provided and discussions held was identified.

Concerns that findings obtained during the assessment process may result in action being taken against an entity identified as a potential pollutant source were raised. It was clarified that there would be no basis for action except when the entity was determined to be violating state or federal law.

Discussions on how local authorities may choose to implement management practices as source water protection measures occurred. The need to delineate the boundaries of the authorities held by various entities was identified.

Discussions of how a SWAP relates to other water quality programs occurred. Also the potential for duplication of authority was raised as a concern. The specific issue voiced in this area was related to managing the use of chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides.

Some concerns related to liability were expressed with regard to the inventory of potential contaminant sources. The need for accuracy in accomplishing the inventory was raised.

Chapters
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Glossary | Acronyms
Appendices
A | B | C | D
Wyoming's Source Water Assessment Guidance Document Contents