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Source Water Protection Through Healthy Forests

Source Water Protection Through Healthy Forests. 2014 AWWA ACE14 - Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11, 2014. G. Tracy Mehan The Cadmus Group, Inc . Today’s Presentation. Watershed Conditions & Water Quality Impacts. 1. Forested Watersheds & Management. 2.

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Source Water Protection Through Healthy Forests

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  1. Source Water Protection Through Healthy Forests 2014 AWWA ACE14 - Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11, 2014 • G. Tracy Mehan • The Cadmus Group, Inc.

  2. Today’s Presentation Watershed Conditions & Water Quality Impacts 1 Forested Watersheds & Management 2 U.S. Endowment & AWWA Partnership 3 Source Water Protection Efforts 4 Funding Source Water Protection 5 Resources 6 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  3. Watershed Conditions & Water Quality Impacts Increased imperviousness &disturbanceslead to decline in water quality Effects of urbanization on headwater streams Relationship between degree of forest cover and drinking water treatment cost 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  4. Forested Watersheds & Management 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  5. What is a Healthy, Well-Managed Forest? • Managed for multiple values: • Lumber • Fiber • Recreation • Ecosystem services • Wildlife • Protected against catastrophic fire, invasive species, disease, overstocking (high stand density) • One approach: forest certification, e.g. SFI • Protection of both public and private forests 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  6. Poor Forest Management Affects Water Quality Less filtration, removal of sediment, uptake of chemicals/ pollutants Increased sediment runoff, ash from forest fires, water temperature from tree/shade removal 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  7. Utilities Don’t Need to Own Land to Protect It Private landowners may be incentivized to improve management to benefit water quality Third parties, e.g. land trusts, may also own and manage land or facilitate easements 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  8. Benefits of Well-Managed Forests Healthy, well-managed forests High quality, protected source water Less water treatment Less energy and chemicals Sustainable communities Less cost to utilities and citizens Ancillary values (e.g. carbon sequestration, habitat) 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  9. U.S. Endowment & AWWA Partnership 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  10. The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Partnership with AWWA • Seeks systemic, transformative change in protection of forested watersheds via “beneficiary pays” (payments for watershed services) and other approaches • Links water consumers with water producers—forest landowners • Promotes cost-effectiveness of watershed protection as a complement to traditional treatment • Supports local efforts to develop long-term or sustainable funding: utility base budgets, fees for water consumers, sales taxes, conservation ballot measures A perpetual endowment to promote healthy, sustainable forests and their many societal benefits (www.usendowment.org) 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  11. AWWA Utilities Survey - Goals • AWWA provided support to the U.S. Endowment by conducting a survey of utility members on source water protection issues in 2013 • Three primary goals: 1. Notify its members of the collaboration 2. Garner support and identify relevant contacts 3. Gather input on the potential of forested watershed management and conservation efforts to improve source water quality 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  12. AWWA Utilities Survey – Key Findings • 75% of respondents indicated forest lands play a very or somewhat significant role in protecting their water quality • There was a diverse mixture of public lands and private lands in source watersheds. Equal numbers indicated 75-100% public lands and <25% private lands. • Nearly 90% of respondents have or are developing a source water protection program 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  13. AWWA Utilities Survey - Trends • Most common concern (62%) of respondents was agricultural non-point source pollution. • Respondents were also concerned about: • Impervious surface runoff (52%) • Urban non-point source pollution (49%) • Point source pollution (45%) • Mining, oil, natural gas, and other mineral extraction (30%) • Conclusions: • Many opportunities exist to improve source water protection • More research may be needed to determine whether other utilities that did not participate in the survey are interested in source water protection 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  14. Beneficiary Pays Approach Forested watersheds supply nearly two-thirds of the clean water supply in the U.S. The “Beneficiary Pays” approach helps communities develop sustainable funding to protect and management of forested watersheds and water supplies. Top-down planning and bottom-up implementation are necessary for source water protection (SWP). 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  15. Green Complements Gray 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  16. Financial Benefits -$1 +$27 $1 spent on SWP saves $27 on water treatment (Winecki, 2012) 10% increase in forest cover reduces treatment and chemical costs by 20% (TPL & AWWA, 2004) (needs further research and verification*) * TPL concluded in a 2008 study reviewing the 2004 data and additional data that “relationships [between source water quality, percent land cover, and drinking water treatment costs] are weak due to high variability within the data” NYC filtration avoidance waiver allowed $2 billion investment in watershed vs projected $10 billion in treatment, operations, and maintenance $2 billion $10 billion 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  17. Source Water Protection Efforts 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  18. Back to the Future • Philadelphia, PA • 1812: Bought 9,000 acres to protect source water • Seattle, WA • 1889: Began acquiring the forested Cedar River Watershed to protect and filter its source water. It now owns the entire 99,000 acre watershed • Providence, RI • 1980s: Began collecting fee for land acquisition: One penny per hundred gallons of water delivered • Providence Water owns 33% of land surrounding reservoir • Manchester, NH • Owns 8,000 acres around source lake • Revenue from sustainable timber harvests: $150,000-$200,000 per year • CT Southern Water Authority • Owns and carefully manages 27,000 acres 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  19. Boston: Green Complements Gray • Division of Water Supply Protection (DWSP), Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Quabbin Watershed: • 2.5 million people – Boston & Chicopee Valley • 1920-1930s: Purchased 60,000 acres of the Quabbinwatershed • Today: DWSP owns 81,000 acres • Revenue from sustainable timber harvests: $300,000-$800,000 per year • Multiple Barrier approach: • Watershed protectionto provide high quality source water • Funded entirely by ratepayers • Filtration (by forest) to remove particulate contaminants and some pathogens • Filtration waiver (SDWA) • Disinfection to kill surviving microorganisms 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  20. Funding Source Water Protection 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  21. Communities with Established SWP Revenue San Francisco, CA Utility base budget $50 million/ 10 years Providence, RI 3 cents/100 gallons $1.5-2 million/year Denver, CO 33 cents/month $3.3 million/year Little Rock, AR 45 cents/month ~$1 million/year Raleigh, NC 40 cents/month $2 million/year Flagstaff, AZ $25 per $250k home, $50 per $500k home, etc. $10 million bond San Antonio, TX 1/8 cent sales tax $90 million cap 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  22. Example of a Successful Fee Project by The U.S. Endowment • Raleigh, NC Watershed Protection Fee • >300,000 people get drinking water from Falls Lake, Upper Neuse River Basin, NC • Watershed protection fee instituted in 2012 • Average 40 cents/month/household • Generates $1.8 million annually for watershed protection 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  23. Conservation Ballot Measures • In 2012, voters passed 81% of ballot measures, raising an estimated $767 million • Concern for public drinking water supplies (90%) and clean water (76%) always the top motivator for voters • The Endowment is working with The Trust for Public Land to expand this approach to more communities 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  24. Resources & Collaboratives 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  25. Resources & Collaboratives • AWWA • G300 Standard for SWP (with guidebook): bit.ly/1kFpso3 • Survey of large water systems regarding SWP • Exemplary SWP Awards • Forest Cover Impacts on the Cost of Water Treatment Project (co-funded by AWWA & The Endowment) • Source Water Collaborative: sourcewatercollaborative.org • Pilot projects (e.g., Salmon Falls, ME & NH; WI, WY, PA) • Working with State Conservationists (NRCS/NSDA) • State Source Water Collaboratives: • North Carolina Source Water Collaborative (ncswc.org) • Connecticut Source Water Collaborative (1.usa.gov/1gxJfk8) • Idaho Source Water Collaborative (protectthesource.org) • U.S. Forest Service – Forest to Faucets: 1.usa.gov/1egxHFD 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  26. Resources & Collaboratives Water Research Foundation: waterrf.org Source Water Protection Vision and Roadmap Source Water Protection Project: www.waterrf.org/resources/NewsletterStories/WaterProtectionWorkshop_fullArticle.html World Resources Institute (WRI) Report: Natural Infrastructure (2013) wri.org/publication/natural-infrastructure Research partly funded by the U.S. Endowment Identifies opportunities to protect source water by investing in natural infrastructure 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  27. Resources & Collaboratives The U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities Can: • Connect you with experts • Provide resources for community stakeholders • Work with you to explore options • Targeted funding 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  28. “Perhaps the two most important lessons from experience to date are the power of individuals and the importance of partnerships. Ultimately, the most effective messengers are influential individuals within their own institutions.” – Gartner, et al. 2013, Natural Infrastructure “All politics is local” – Tip O’Neil 2014 AWWA ACE14: Uniting the World of Water - Boston, MA - June 8-11

  29. Additional Slides on AWWA SWP Survey The following slides contain additional information on the 2013 AWWA Source Water Protection survey

  30. AWWA 2013 Source Water Protection Survey – additional detailed information Contact: Adam T. Carpenter Regulatory Analyst 202-326-6126 acarpenter@awwa.org

  31. Population Served

  32. Forested Lands

  33. Public Lands

  34. Established SWP Program

  35. Primary SWP Concerns

  36. Loss of Forest Cover

  37. Loss of Forest Cover, continued

  38. Cost-Benefit Analysis

  39. SWP Studies

  40. SWP Improvement Project Funding

  41. SWP Improvement Projects

  42. SWP Potential Projects

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