Vision/Mission
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Collaborative should be effective and lead to tangible outcomes
Work to ensure clean, safe, abundant, reliable and sustainable supplies
Recognize connection of ground and surface waters as supplies
Recognize connection between natural systems that provide and depend on clean water
Recognize need for equity between rural and urban communities
Work toward solutions that are cost effective/affordable – emphasize cost savings
Seek scalable approaches
Emphasize cost savings for treatment and human health
Promote both water quality and quantity
Emphasize local stewardship
Recognize that water supplies are complex systems with natural and artificial systems interacting
Recognize the need for managing/balancing development
Maximize partnerships (each organization has different goals and duties and we should work more efficiently by
identifying overlapping priorities/responsibilities and working on those)
Leveraging existing resources
Enable, guide and act as a clearinghouse/respected source for supporting communities. Be that GO TO source
for enabling SWP
Focus on benefits to citizens, local utilities and state
Should be separation of “what” & “how” (the above list has both)
Need to be specific about benefits of SWP
Organizational Considerations
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Small work groups/committee as opposed to large?
Use Council of Governments (COGs) to feed SWP information to elected officials and get local government
priorities from COGs (COGs acts as liaisons to local officials)
There are varied challenges across the state due to geologic/geographic differences – there are no uniform
challenges
Collaborative needs to have a diverse representation
Cost benefit analysis of SWP is a key tool for Collaborative Members to have available to them
Collaborative will need a steering committee
SWP Champions will be needed on the Collaborative
Need a name recognition person on the Collaborative (Jim Hunt was one recommendation)
Candidate Source Water Protection (SWP) Collaborative Initiatives
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SWP cost benefit analysis.
Outreach materials for use by public utilities designed to educate their customers on the value of SWP.
Take advantage of existing examples of successful outreach approaches (i.e. the storm water education
outreach program).
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Package SWP messages for use in local campaigns in terms that appeal to the public (i.e. public health, cost
benefit and economic development)
o People pay more attention during election (therefore, seek “teachable” moments)
o “protecting water supplies” can be a vehicle to indirectly raise environmental awareness
o Do not phrase it as environmentalism – politicians/citizens may automatically stop paying attention.
Connect with existing landscape based conservation Collaboratives.
Target SWP message to the local level and personalize it.
Be prepared to take advantage of opportunities when they arise.
Address awareness problem (generate SWP buzz).
Promote SWP as solution to current perceived problems (i.e. growth, availability of water, etc.)
Planning Staff for local governments need to be educated on what they can do to promote/ensure SWP.
Identify and publicize “shining stars” in SWP. Use them as examples of success and target their success to
similar demographics.
Use logic model to help identify which SWP initiative will bring more bang for the buck (i.e. link resources
(human and financial) to activities; further, link these activities to specific “outputs”; and finally link outputs to
broader scale “outcomes”.
Use the North Carolina American Planning Association to access local planners to promote the Collaborative and
SWP Initiatives. We need to develop a message for the planners to make it clear to them how to do SWP via land
use management.
The message needs to liken SWP to an industry. Manufacturers need quality raw materials to produce a quality
product; public utilities need quality source water to product affordable, safe and abundant drinking water.
Identify and publicize positive outcomes of SWP.
Gather info on projects funded due to priority points given to by existing SWP partners (i.e., Community
Conservation Assistance Program, Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Clean Water Management Trust
Fund, Clean Water State Revolving Fund) to show the real outcomes of these efforts.
Solicit input on needs of public utility managers along with providing education to them on SWP.
Improve data collection (or where already on hand, make it more available) on the quantity and quality of
groundwater supplies.
Disseminate common messages from the Collaborative that show broad support and sparks education and
action.
Create signage to increase awareness of the location of drinking water sources. For example, in water supply
watersheds with parks around them added signage to inform attendees that they are in a drinking water source.
Support and increase the collection efforts of unused/unwanted pharmaceuticals.
Create an instantly understandable and recognizable SWP motto (i.e., Source Water Protection is not a clearly
understood term among many stakeholders).
Figure out how to engage residential well owners in SWP efforts (they have a stake also).
Target school aged kids in SWP education/promotion. For example, have a SWP poster creation competition for
students. The best posters can be used for state-wide promotion of SWP.
Add a section on SWP to the existing SWAP information in the Consumer Confidence Reports (these are annual
reports that public water supply systems have to send to their customers in compliance with the SDWA).