Thanks for visiting Protect The Source!
The Idaho Source Water Collaborative’s Website promoting the protection of Idaho’s drinking water sources.
The water in our aquifers, rivers, and lakes provides drinking water to the public. These natural sources can be vulnerable to contamination from land use practices and potential contaminant sources within the vicinity of drinking water wells and intakes.
There are many ways to minimize this vulnerability and help keep public drinking water free from contaminants. It is critical that we take steps to protect our source water.
Source water protection is a voluntary community effort to help prevent contamination of the source water that supplies its public water system. The effort may involve creating a source water or drinking water protection plan and implementing regulatory or non-regulatory management practices. Preventing contaminants from entering a public water system supply benefits the community by minimizing the problems that can occur from contaminants in the water supply such as increased health risks to the public, expanded drinking water monitoring requirements, additional water treatment requirements, and expensive environmental cleanup activities.
Source water protection is the responsibility of many, including the general public, local governments, and public water systems.
Check out the National Source Water Collaborative’s Website here!
Current Projects:
NRCS – EQIP WaterSmart Initiative Priority Areas in Idaho
King Hill Irrigation District initially found a 35% loss of water delivered from their actual amounts pumped. With NRCS WaterSMART assistance, an estimated 18,733 acre-feet/year of conserved water will remain in the Snake River channel.
Preston East Lateral Area used WaterSMART funds to address seepage and evaporation losses by converting 6 miles of unlined earthen canal to 3.5 miles of high-pressure pipe and improving irrigation efficiencies.
St. John East Lateral Area used WaterSMART funds to make a number of improvements to their canals to reduce seepage losses and save water annually.
Twin Falls Service Area used WaterSMART grants to manage water demands in its service area through construction of an irrigation pond and lining earthen canals.