October 2, 1997- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
Comment: WDEQ Staff asked how a Source Water Assessment Program is addressed in Wyoming because of its non-primacy status for implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Program--- Response: Mr. John Giedt said that because of Wyoming's non-primacy status, Wyoming public water systems are not required to conduct source water assessments. SWAP is a voluntary program in Wyoming.
Comment: Committee Member asked what action is needed to acquire the source water assessment 10% set-aside from the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds Program.--- Response: Draft legislation has been written to obtain the set-aside. The legislation will be presented to the Public Lands and Agriculture Committee on Oct. 14, 1997 in Saratoga. If the committee approves of the legislation will be presented to the 1998 Wyoming State Legislature.
Comment: Committee Member asked how the information of the source water assessment may impact agricultural interests in Wyoming.--- Response: Source water assessments are voluntary in Wyoming. The implementation of source water protection plans; i.e., pro-active pollution prevention plans, etc., are voluntary in all states. The potential contaminant sources will be identified through the SWAP process. Actions by WDEQ would be taken only if a potential contaminant source was determined to be violating state or federal law.
January 29, 1998- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
Comment: Committee Members asked what is the purpose for conducting the Advisory Committee meetings.--- Response: The meetings are being conducted to make decisions on the approaches and strategies for performing source water assessments in Wyoming. The DW-SRF set-aside legislation did pass committee vote but the fate of the set-aside lies with the 1998 Wyoming State Legislature.
Comment: Committee Member asked how the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process relates to performing source water assessment in Wyoming.--- Response: Mr. Gary Beach described how the TMDL program provides management options for controlling waste loading to surface waters, which the SWAP program is a preventive program which is voluntary, rather than regulatory, in nature.
Comment: WDEQ Staff asked committee members how the source water assessment work should be prioritized or ranked.--- Response: The committee members brain stormed for about two hours identifying various ranking criteria. The three major criteria for ranking were: I. Vulnerability of Contamination, II. Population/Greatest Benefit Considerations, and III. Intent/Interest in Protecting Drinking Water Supply.
June 16, 1998- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
Comment: Committee members asked if the source water assessment ranking criteria can be applied effectively.--- Response: It was discussed that the ranking scheme needs to be tested on several public water systems to check how they rank relative to each other.
July 27, 1998- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
Comment: Committee member raised the issue of the potential for conflicts arising between the agricultural community and municipalities if "buffer zones" are drawn on maps. The member also questioned how well the `buffer zones' could be managed on federal lands.--- Response: Any management strategies will have to be implemented through cooperative efforts between the PWS suppliers, affected landowners, and land management agencies. A Wyoming Association of Municipalities (WAM) representative stated that a spirit of cooperation exists between municipalities and agricultural interests. It was strongly suggested that the terminology of "contaminant inventory zone" be used instead of "buffer zone". It was stated the `inventory zone' should extend the lateral extent of the alluvial aquifer if this information is available.
September 1, 1998- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
This meeting involved a tour of Cheyenne's municipal well field and reservoir used to supply drinking water to the City. Many issues were discussed with regard to Cheyenne's ongoing source water protection efforts.
November 4, 1998- Source Water Assessment Plan Advisory Committee Meeting.
Comment: Committee member stated that the `undeveloped' and `urban and industrialized' terms on the prioritization ranking criteria needs to be formally defined to clarify how the ranking will be performed.--- Response: Forest Service and National Parks lands were give as an example of an `undeveloped' watershed because it is unlikely that the land use will change in the future. Privately-owned lands could potentially contain potential sources and are more prone to future development.
Comment: Mr. John Giedt asked whether the suggested 200 ft. distance from the surface water body was adequate. John stated that South Dakota has suggested a distance of 2 mile.--- Response: Most of Wyoming's drainage are higher up in the watershed and in the headwaters so the gradients are much steeper. Because of the above reasons, the 200 ft. distance should include the alluvial areas and the highly permeable sediments along the stream and river banks. Because South Dakota has less steep watersheds & is further down the watershed, a larger inventory distance may likely be appropriate
Chapters
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7
Glossary |
Acronyms
Appendices
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D
Wyoming's Source
Water Assessment Guidance Document Contents