The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released DWMAPS – the Drinking Water Mapping Application to Protect Source Waters. This online mapping tool provides the public, water system operators, state programs, and federal agencies with critical information to help safeguard the sources of America’s drinking water.
DWMAPS allows users to learn about their watershed and understand more about their water supplier. DWMAPS also lets users see if sources of their drinking water are polluted and if there are possible sources of pollution that could affect their communities’ water supply. DWMAPS can guide users to ways they can get involved in protecting drinking water sources in their community. Utilities and state drinking water program managers can also use DWMAPS with their own state and local data. It allows them to identify potential sources of contamination in their locations, find data to support source water assessments and plans to manage potential sources of contamination, and evaluate accidental spills and releases. DWMAPS also integrates drinking water protection activities with other environmental programs at the federal, state, and local levels.
DWMAPS helps users to:
- Identify potential sources of contamination in locations defined by users,
- Find data to support source water assessments and plans to manage potential sources of contamination,
- Evaluate accidental spills and releases, identifying where emergency response resources for accidental releases must be readily available, and
- Promote integration of drinking water protection activities with other environmental programs at the EPA, state, and local levels.
For more information visit www.epa.gov/sourcewaterprotection/dwmaps
