News Releases - 2001

Illinois Source Water Assessment Now Available On The Web

Springfield, Ill. -- Information about the sources of drinking water in Illinois and identifying potential risks to these supplies is now available on-line on the Illinois EPA's site at http://www.epa.state.il.us/water/groundwater/source-water-quality-program.html.

The website has a link to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Illinois District, web page which has been cooperatively developed to provide drinking water quality data and analyses to the public as part of Illinois' Source Water Assessment and Protection Program.

The Illinois EPA's Source Water Assessment and Protection Program is intended to increase public awareness of the quality and potential risks to consumers' drinking water supplies. Results of these assessments are intended to provide a foundation for proactive measures that local officials may take to protect their drinking water sources.

The Illinois EPA, Illinois Department of Public Health, and county health departments are performing source water assessments for all public water supplies in the state. Required elements of an assessment include: a description of the source of drinking water (surface water, groundwater or both), characteristics of the water supply wells and/or intakes, source water quality, finished water quality, potential sources of contamination, a determination of the source water's susceptibility to contamination and source water protection efforts. In completing this effort, the Illinois EPA relies heavily on local water supply stakeholders as well as information compiled from state and federal databases, field surveys, historical and ongoing monitoring data. With assistance from the USGS, Illinois EPA is also now able to provide information in the form of an interactive map server that allows public access to database information via spatial queries through a web browser. Previously this data was only available through site-specific inquiries to the Illinois EPA. With the startup of the new interactive map system, consultants, engineers, researchers or the public may obtain information on numerous cross-media programs, including:

• Resource-based coverage from the Department of Natural Resources;
  
  
• Water supply wells/surface water intake locations, delineated source water protection areas, water quality data, and associated information related to the Safe Drinking Water Act;
  
  
• Potable water supply setback zone areas, designated Class III: Special Resource groundwater areas, and Regulated Recharge Areas under the Illinois Environmental Protection Act and related regulations;
  
  
• Watershed boundaries, priority water bodies, and discharge monitoring data from the Clean Water Act program;
  
  
• U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service Priority Water Quality Areas; and
  
  
• Information from the USGS, Illinois District, real time stream gauging stations.

The Governor's Technology Office has nominated this interactive web site for an "Exemplary Systems in Government" Award from the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association.

Additional information on Illinois EPA programs may be obtained from the Illinois EPA homepage at: http://www.epa.state.il.us.