Source Water is the raw, untreated supply of water from surface water or groundwater used for current or future drinking water.
Source Water protection reduces the risk of water getting contaminated. It is a very efficient and cost saving way to protect the safety and long-term use of safe drinking water for our communities.
Source Water Protection Program works with water systems and communities on source water planning and partners with other state, federal, local entities for special projects that study important source water threats and issues.
The Source Water Protection Team assists with:
- Developing or updating Source Water Assessments and Protection Plans
- Using geographic information systems for analysis and development of protection zones
- Identifying actual and potential sources of contamination
- Developing source water risk assessments
- Developing source water management strategies
- Facilitating community engagement for source water planning
- Providing outreach about your plan and source water protection in general
This program is voluntary and free of cost for water systems.
Contact us to start protecting your source water today:
505-476-8620 or drinking.water@state.nm.us
Source Water Tools:
NMED EnviroMap (formerly Source Water Protection Atlas) has different layers about potential water threats
Technical Guidance on Ground Water Under Direct Influence (GWUDI), April 2021
EPA about source water protection is found here.
Developing a new drinking water source?
Contaminant Inventories are required for new drinking water sources such as wells or surface water intakes. They help with the identification of contamination risk to drinking water supplies and are essential for planning projects.
Check out this guidance here.