Greg Bunce: Welcome to another episode of the Utah Geospatial Podcast. This is Greg Bunce.
Matt Peters: And I’m Matt Peters.
Greg Bunce: And we’re from the Utah Geospatial Resource Center. This podcast will be bringing you Geospatial news from across Utah.
This episode is the final episode in a three-part series on water here in Utah. In Part 1 we focused on water resources. In Part 2, water rights. And in Part 3, we talk about drinking water. You can find all of our episodes in our podcast feed or wherever you find your podcasts.
Today on the show we talk with Deidre Beck from DEQ’s Division of Drinking Water. Deidre discusses the difference between a public and a private water system and how the division regulates public systems to ensure that the water you drink is safe. She also explains source protection zones, what they are, and why they are important to our water sources.
We also talk about emergency response and how GIS helps them quickly identify systems that may be affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes or wildfires. And then we discuss the new lead and copper rule revisions and how the division is working with water systems to inventory their service lines. So sit back, take a moment, and enjoy the show.
Matt Peters: Welcome to the UGRC podcast. Today we have Deidre Beck. Deidre is with the Department of Environmental Quality, the Division of Drinking Water. And I’m kind of excited about this because I think we take it for granted that when we turn on the tap, water comes out and it’s safe to drink. We don’t really think about it. But there’s a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes to make sure that happens.
Deidre, maybe just as a start, tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into GIS.
Deidre Beck: Thanks Matt. I’m happy to be here. I grew up in Vernal, Utah. I always liked maps. I remember looking at maps with my dad when we would go on road trips. I started college at Utah State University and I took a geography class and really liked it. I ended up getting a degree in Geography with a minor in GIS. I started working for the state in 2006 as a GIS intern for the Division of Water Quality. And then I got a full-time job with the Division of Drinking Water in 2007. So I’ve been with the division for about 15 years now.
Matt Peters: Wow. That’s a long time. So at a high level, what exactly does the Division of Drinking Water do?
Deidre Beck: So the Division of Drinking Water, we regulate public water systems in the state of Utah. We make sure that they are meeting the safe drinking water standards. We work with the water systems to ensure that they have the technical, managerial, and financial capacity to provide safe drinking water to their customers. We also provide funding for water system projects. So if a water system needs to put in a new well or replace a storage tank or replace water lines, we have loan and grant programs that can help them with that.
Greg Bunce: So Deidre, what is the difference between a public water system and a private one?
Deidre Beck: A public water system is defined as a system that has at least 15 service connections or serves at least 25 people for at least 60 days of the year. So that includes your cities and towns, but it also includes things like campgrounds, schools, businesses, restaurants that have their own water source. A private water system would be like a single home on a well or a small group of homes that share a well but don’t meet that 15 connection or 25 people threshold. We don’t regulate private water systems. Those are regulated by the local health departments.
Greg Bunce: Okay. So if I’m on a private well, I’m responsible for testing my own water and making sure it’s safe?
Deidre Beck: Yes, that’s correct. The local health departments might have some requirements for testing when the well is first drilled, but after that it’s up to the homeowner to make sure that the water is safe.
Matt Peters: I noticed on your website you have some interactive maps. One of them shows source protection zones. Can you explain what those are and why they’re important?
Deidre Beck: Yeah. So source protection zones are areas around a water source, like a well or a spring, where we want to manage potential contamination sources. We want to prevent contamination from getting into the drinking water supply. So we have defined zones based on the time of travel for groundwater to move to the well or spring.
Zone 1 is a 100-foot radius around the well or spring. That’s the most critical area. We don’t want any uncontrolled activities in that zone. Zone 2 is a 250-day travel time. So if a contaminant was spilled in that zone, it would take 250 days to reach the well. Zone 3 is a 3-year travel time and Zone 4 is a 15-year travel time.
For surface water sources, like intakes on a river or a reservoir, we have different zones. Zone 1 is a 100-foot radius around the intake. Zone 2 is the area 2 miles upstream and 1,000 feet on either side of the stream. Zone 3 is the area 3 to 15 miles upstream and 1,000 feet on either side. And Zone 4 is the rest of the watershed.
So water systems are required to develop a source protection plan for each of their sources. They have to identify potential contamination sources within those zones and develop management strategies to control them.
Matt Peters: That makes sense. It’s really about protecting the source water so we don’t have to treat it as much.
Deidre Beck: Exactly. It’s much cheaper and easier to prevent contamination than it is to clean it up.
Greg Bunce: I imagine GIS plays a big role in defining those zones and managing that data.
Deidre Beck: Yes, absolutely. We use GIS to map the source protection zones. We have a database of all the potential contamination sources that have been identified. We use that data to help water systems update their plans. We also share that data with other agencies so they can use it for their planning and permitting processes.
Greg Bunce: I wanted to ask about emergency response. I know we had the earthquake in Magna a couple of years ago. How does your division use GIS in emergency response situations?
Deidre Beck: That was a really interesting event for us. When the earthquake happened, we had to quickly identify which water systems were affected and reach out to them to see if they had any damage. We used GIS to map the epicenter of the earthquake and then select all the water systems within a certain radius. We were able to generate a list of contact information for those systems and start making calls.
We also use GIS for things like wildfires. When there’s a wildfire, we can overlay the fire perimeter with our water system boundaries and source protection zones to see which systems might be impacted. Then we can coordinate with the water systems and the emergency responders to protect the water infrastructure and ensure that the water remains safe.
Matt Peters: That’s really critical. I mean, water is essential for fighting fires, but it’s also essential for the people who are living in those areas.
Deidre Beck: Yes, and after a fire, there’s a risk of flooding and debris flows that can impact water quality. So we have to monitor that as well.
Matt Peters: I’ve heard a lot recently about the lead and copper rule. Can you talk a little bit about that and how GIS is involved?
Deidre Beck: Yeah, so the EPA recently released some revisions to the lead and copper rule. One of the big requirements is that water systems have to develop an inventory of all their service lines and identify which ones are made of lead. They have to submit that inventory to the state by October of 2024.
So we are working with the water systems to help them with that. We’re developing some tools and templates that they can use to collect and manage that data. GIS is going to be a huge part of that because they have to map where those service lines are. We want to be able to visualize that data and see where the lead service lines are so we can prioritize replacement.
Greg Bunce: That sounds like a massive undertaking. Are there a lot of lead service lines in Utah?
Deidre Beck: We don’t think there are a lot, compared to some of the older cities back east. But we really don’t know for sure until we do the inventory. Most of our infrastructure is newer, but there are some older communities that might have some lead lines.
Matt Peters: Is there any funding available to help water systems with this?
Deidre Beck: Yes, there is funding available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. There’s money specifically for lead service line replacement and for developing the inventories. So we are encouraging water systems to apply for that funding.
Greg Bunce: So Deidre, if people want to find out more about drinking water in Utah, where should they go?
Deidre Beck: They can go to our website at drinkingwater.utah.gov. We have a lot of information there for water systems and for the public. We have a link to our interactive maps where you can see the source protection zones and other data. We also have information about the lead and copper rule and other regulations.
Matt Peters: Great. Well, thanks for joining us today Deidre. It’s been really informative.
Deidre Beck: Thanks for having me.
Greg Bunce: Yeah, thank you. It’s great to hear about all the work that goes into keeping our water safe.
Matt Peters: And thanks to our listeners for tuning in. We’ll catch you on the next episode.