Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2007OR95B

Protecting Our Vital Resource: City of Corvallis Drinking Water Protection Plan and Outreach Strategy

Institute: Oregon
Year Established: 2007 Start Date: 2007-03-01 End Date: 2008-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $22,253

Principal Investigators: Michael Campana, Todd Jarvis

Abstract: Drinking water source protection is one of the multiple barriers for ensuring the safety and quality of drinking water. A protected drinking water source is a sustainable resource for the community. By protecting the source of the public water supply, a community reduces the risk to public health of contamination, avoids the cost of pollution remediation and promotes environmental stewardship. The City of Corvallis seeks to develop a certified Drinking Water Protection Plan and a detailed risk-reduction plan for the high and moderate risks within the source water protection area as identified and delineated by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The City will also engage upstream and downstream communities and develop outreach strategies to foster water stewardship among residents. The primary goal of the Drinking Water Protection Program is to reduce the risk of contamination of the public water supply. To achieve this goal, the program will address the facilities and land use activities that pose high or moderate risks for contaminating the public water supply. In addition, recent and pending changes in land use law in Oregon associated with Ballot Measures 37 and 49 will be investigated for potential impacts to sensitive drinking water source areas. To promote long-term health of the watershed, the City will develop an innovative, collaborative, and cooperative approach to educate children about the importance of safe water and water conservation. A secondary goal of the Drinking Water Protection Program is to limit the impacts of disruption of drinking water supply due to natural or human-induced contamination. To achieve this goal, a contingency plan will be developed through the cooperation of multiple local agencies and upstream and downstream communities.