DEC and DOH Announce 39 New Municipalities Receiving Free Technical Assistance To Protect Drinking Water Sources

Communities Will Work with Technical Assistance Providers to Develop and Implement Programs That Proactively Protect Public Drinking Water Supplies

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos and State Department of Health (DOH) Commissioner Dr. James McDonald today announced 39 new municipalities will receive free technical assistance to help protect public drinking water sources through the Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2). The multi-agency initiative, led by DEC and DOH in collaboration with the Departments of Agriculture and Markets (AGM) and State (DOS), empowers municipalities to take critical actions to improve and protect public drinking water sources and the environment.

“The Drinking Water Source Protection Program is one of the many ways New York is providing communities across the state with the tools needed to protect sources of public drinking water and conserve the State’s groundwater and surface water supplies for future generations,” said Commissioner Seggos. “We are proud to work with our partner agencies and applaud the latest round of municipalities for showing their commitment to improving water quality and access to clean water.”

“Technical support through the Drinking Water Source Protection Program enables municipalities to navigate the planning process for critically important projects that will safeguard the health of their community,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald. “We are proud to offer this assistance at no cost, and we thank our partners for their collaborative leadership in protecting drinking water sources and public health.”

Communities enrolled in the program will work with technical assistance providers to develop and initiate implementation of a unique drinking water source protection program at no cost to the participating municipalities. The program is designed to build off previous work, help align priorities, and fill gaps within a municipality’s current and future source water protection efforts. Participating municipalities receive assistance in assessing modern day vulnerabilities and engaging in preventative actions to protect drinking water sources from contamination, identifying effective actions to address potential contaminant sources, and implementing source water protection actions. The free technical assistance provided by the Drinking Water Source Protection Program helps take the complexity and guesswork out of developing, and initial implementation of, a drinking water source protection program plan.

A full list of participating communities can be found on the DEC’s website.

In addition to the development of a plan, each community will initiate implementation activities focused on preventing and minimizing pollution of source waters. Municipalities have many tools available to reduce the likelihood of pollutants reaching the source water area for their public water supply. For example, a municipality may:

• Work with a landowner to put an easement on a piece of land, or purchase a property that is near a drinking water source;
• make use of available state and federal funding, programs, and other resources to aid with the cost of implementation activities;
• Establish a protective buffer or develop and implement local protective zoning around their source that controls activities or land uses that can threaten the water supply;
• Conduct education campaigns for their community to help them understand their part in protecting the source.

The Drinking Water Source Protection Program has taken big strides protecting drinking water resources across New York State since launched in 2021. Prior to today’s announcement, 74 municipalities worked to create a total of 46 action-oriented, community-driven DWSP2 plans to protect their drinking water sources. Eighteen of those communities completed the plan development process and subsequently received State Acceptance, moving forward on implementing their plans. Municipalities can learn from examples set by the city of Ithaca, town and village of Ellicottville, village of Allegany, and the town of Fishkill.

As communities implement DWSP2 plans, many develop outreach and education campaigns to ensure New Yorkers are aware of how the actions can impact water quality. Additionally, communities enrolled in the program are working with technical assistance providers to prepare grant applications and secure funding for identified source water protection actions. Some communities using groundwater as a source of public drinking water are also developing aquifer protection overlay districts, which protect public health and safety by minimizing contamination of groundwater. Communities interested in the Drinking Water Source Protection Program can learn more on DEC’s website or contact source.water@dec.ny.gov.

New York’s Commitment to Water Quality

New York State continues to increase its investments in water infrastructure, including $325 million in grant opportunities made available earlier this month. With Governor Hochul’s proposed Executive Budget, New York will invest a total of $5.5 billion in water infrastructure since 2017. This funding complements Governor Hochul’s State of the State initiative to increase water infrastructure grants for small rural communities from 25 to 50 percent of net eligible project costs to help support smaller communities.

The voter-approved $4.2 billion Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act of 2022 is advancing historic levels of funding to update aging water infrastructure and protect water quality, strengthen communities’ ability to withstand severe storms and flooding, reduce air pollution and lower climate-altering emissions, restore habitats, and preserve outdoor spaces and local farms. The Bond Act provides at least $650 million for water quality improvement projects. Many of the projects to be funded with Bond Act flood resiliency and restoration monies (at least $1.1 billion) also improve water quality by reducing polluted runoff. The first round of funding under the Environmental Bond Act was awarded through the WIIA/IMG programs in December 2023, when Governor Hochul announced $479 million in grants for 156 projects across New York State. The funding included a combination of the Governor’s historic commitment to water quality infrastructure and $200 million from the Environmental Bond Act.

The Executive Budget also sustains record funding for the Environmental Protection Fund at $400 million, helps support numerous water quality improvement programs, projects and studies. The CWIA and EPF, for example, fund DEC’s Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) program that funds projects that directly improve water quality or aquatic habitat or protect a drinking water source. Last year alone, $108 million in WQIP projects helped fund municipal wastewater treatment upgrades, polluted runoff abatement and control, land acquisition projects for drinking water protection, salt storage construction, aquatic connectivity restoration, and marine habitat restoration.