Intermountain Section AWWA 2016 Annual Conference

A holistic and coordinated planning and funding approach is required to achieve long lasting and effective protection of water quality. Partnerships are vital between water quality and drinking water programs, and with other public and private partners at the federal, state, and local levels. This presentation will describe the fundamental steps towards protective actions that promote broader collaboration among a diversity of programs and entities. Water managers across national, regional, state, and watershed scales must align their efforts to protect source water through action and institutional relationships to achieve common objectives. Water quality programs can leverage the high value consumers place on public health protection and safe drinking water to increase public support for addressing surface and ground water challenges more effectively. EPA, other federal and state agencies, local governments and private organizations can support such collaborative actions by providing technical, programmatic, financial and logistical assistance. Opportunities for collaboration between drinking water and water quality agencies will be discussed and specific examples provided of where this is currently happening in Utah.