Wolf Bay Plan Final - Mobile Bay National Estuary Program

7. ADEM Source Water Assessment and Protection PlanThe Source Water Assessment and Protection Program was mandated by Congress in the 1996Amendment to the Safe Drinking Water Act. The Source Water Assessment Program is amandatory program in Alabama and requires that all public water supply utilities complete a 3-part assessment for all of their supply wells. The assessment must delineate the boundaries ofthe area that contribute groundwater and potential contaminants to the community water systems.The assessment must include a contamination source inventory and a susceptibility determinationto identify how prone the public water supply is to contamination. Lastly, the assessment mustinclude a public awareness program that informs the public about information gathered by theassessment. All public water supplies within the Wolf Bay watershed have completed the SourceWater Assessment Program.Once the assessment is completed, local authorities are encouraged to use the assessmentinformation to protect their water supplies and to develop a Source Water Protection Plan. Sourcewater protection efforts may involve corrective activities to remove contamination threats orpreventative actions through land use planning and education. Gulf Shores is the only communitywith an approved and active protection program in South Baldwin County.B. REGULATORY PROGRAMS1. National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) ProgramUnder the Clean Water Act, most point source discharges of pollution require a permit. TheNPDES program is administered by ADEM. Point sources are direct discharges from factories,sewage treatment plants, mining and concentrated animal feedlot operations. Permittees arerequired to submit discharge monitoring reports (DMR) to ADEM. The DMR contains data forall parameters and monitoring frequency required by the NPDES permit.On Jan. 23, 2003 ADEM approved Administrative Code Chapter 335-6-12 which regulatesstormwater discharges from construction and mining activities. All construction sites greaterthan 1 acre and all mining activities greater than 5 acres are required to register under theregulations. The regulations require the implementation and maintenance of effective BMPs tocontrol pollutants in stormwater discharges. ADEM enforces the regulations through siteinspections and sampling.Note: The act specifically excludes “return flows from irrigated agriculture or agricultural stormwater runoff. This exempts many, but not all, agricultural activities from the NPDES program.30