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Presented at the 15th Annual Alaska Tribal Conference on Environmental Management November 16-20, 2009 The Drinking Water Program Who are we? What is our role? What are the rules? Why do these rules exist? What do we do? Department of Environmental Conservation Structure Commissioner’s Office Larry Hartig, Commissioner Dan Easton, Deputy Commissioner Spill Prevention and Response Environmental Health Information and Administrative Services Air Quality Water Environmental Health Division Structure Commissioner’s Office Environmental Health Solid Waste Food Safety & Sanitation State Veterinarian Pesticides Drinking Water Laboratory Drinking Water Program Network Sanitary Survey Inspectors Public Water Systems Drinking Water Program Consulting Engineers Other DEC Programs RMW , Technical Assistance Providers State and Local Governments Alaska Native Organizations Laboratories EPA Communities, Tribal Councils The Drinking Water Program DW Program Mission 1974 - Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) passed by federal government Provide Public Health Protection Through Safe Drinking Water 1978 - Primacy Primacy Defined Definition “Primacy” is a situation where the primary enforcement responsibility for a given set of rules or regulations is delegated from one entity to another. 7 Many Complex Federal Rules Water System Owner and Operator’s Perspective •20 Federal Rules have been incorporated in state regulations since 1991 State Regulator’s Reality Health Protection in Our Communities What Kinds of Things Might Be in My Drinking Water ? Microbiological Contaminants Chemical Contaminants Microbiological Contaminants Bacteria Salmonella Shigella E. coli Campylobacter Viruses Norovirus Hepatitis A Protozoa Giardia Cryptosporidium Chemical Contaminants Inorganic Arsenic Lead Copper Volatile Organic Benzene Xylene Toluene Synthetic Organic Pentachlorophenol (PCP) Atrazine Nitrates How Is My Water Treated? Disinfection Filtration/Removal Helps Public Water Systems and Communities Alaska’s Public Water Systems (PWSs) Federal Type Source Type # Systems Community Water Systems CWS Groundwater 318 Surface Water 102 GWUDI 16 Non-Community Water Systems NTNC Groundwater (NonSurface Water transient) GWUDI TNC Groundwater (Transient) Surface Water GWUDI Total 181 60 4 809 73 10 1,573 Note: Numbers vary over time. State Type: Class C, more than 1500 Drinking Water Program Structure Program Manager Statewide Technical Services Administrative Services •Program Management • • • • • Regulations DW Protection Security Quality Assurance Info Technology Engineering •Engineering Reviews •Technical Assistance •Inspections •Enforcement •Asset Management •System Optimization •System Affordability Compliance and Monitoring •Monitoring Summaries •Monitoring & Reporting -Assistance -Enforcement •Inspections •Sampling Plans •Compliance Determinations Source To Tap Tap Source Source Water Quality Where is your Source? Source Water Assessments Source Water Protection Treatment, Operations, Testing, and Reporting Engineering Reviews System optimization Asset Management Field visits and inspections Monitoring and Reporting Monitoring Summaries Tap PWS Sustainability Compliance Determinations Sample Siting Plans Emergency Response Plans What Can I Do To Make Sure My Water Is Safe To Drink? Support your Water Treatment Operator Learn about Water Treatments Find out about your PWS - does the owner of the system Prioritize Funding Submit Engineering Review prior to construction/modification Ensure the Water Monitoring is done Do they know DEC DW Program Staff Do they have a Drinking Water Protection Plan Do they have an Emergency Response Plan Find out About Your PWS…. The Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) is our state database which houses a vast amount of information on all the Public Water Systems (PWSs) in the State of Alaska. How to access PWS information: o Drinking Water Watch (great for information on individual systems) o If needing information in summarized (list) format, please contact us Drinking Water Watch Link http://map.dec.state.ak.us/eh/dww/index.jsp Find out About Your PWS…. The Environmental Protection Agency produces a quarterly list of Public Water Systems that are “significantly” out of compliance with a given rule (the SNC List). Important to check this list each quarter to make sure your community is not listed on it. How to access PWS information: o Drinking Water Website o Contact your Environmental Program Specialist if you have questions Link to Drinking Water SNC Webpage http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/dw/dwmain/SNC.htm Available Technical Assistance DEC - DW Program Website: http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/dw/index.htm EPA Website: http://www.epa.gov/safewater Wellhead Protection CD-Rom Emergency Response Planning Toolkit CD-ROM DW Program Staff are always available to help Call Email Office Locations and Contacts Anchorage 269-7656 Wasilla 376-1850 Fairbanks 451-2108 Soldotna 262-5210 Juneau 465-5350 Anchorage 1-866-956-7656 Fairbanks 1-800-770-2137 http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/dw/index.htm Discussion Questions? Comments? Did this help you understand who we are and what we do? This presentation will be posted on our website very soon @ http://www.dec.state.ak.us/eh/dw/training.html