Abstract

Examples of Cross-program Approaches for Sharing Drinking Water Indicators
Track: Water Resources
Authors: William Cooter, Kibri Everett

The Drinking Water Mapping Application (DWMA) provides a secure application for EPA staff to obtain reports and maps for managing programs under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The DWMA applies ESRI's enterprise map servers and the EPA's SDE-based enhanced National Hydrography Dataset (the NHDPlus) to locate drinking water surface intake locations within the NHD network and define source water areas relative to the intake facilities. Source protection areas are also provided for buffer areas around wellheads. Examples are provided showing ways that geoprocessing techniques can transform sensitive drinking water information into indicators of great value to a wide range of water quality management issues. The highlighted applications include general indicators based on the Watershed Boundary Dataset HUC12 subwatersheds and ways to identify potential contaminant risks from hazardous waste Large Quantity Generators and hardrock mining activities regulated under EPA's Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response.