New Mexico Rural Water Association
Wellhead protection is a means by which a public water system can actively protect its valuable drinking water resources and the capital investment used to develop these water resources. A community public water system consists of a source water, some type of collection system, water treatment, and a distribution system. Efforts to ensure adequate supplies of safe water typically have focuesed on these engineering components of a public water supply. Source water protection provides additional safeguards by preventing contamination of the source water. Source water protection for public water systems using ground water is referred to as wellhead protection.
Wellhead protection aims at preventing contamination in and around the area of the public water supply wellfield and consequently reduces the liklihood that the wellfield will become contaminated.
Typically, a 5-step process is used in the development of a wellhead protection plan; refer to the links below for further information about plan development. A Wellhead protection plan can be drafted locally for your community with the assistance of the NMRWA Ground Water Source Protection Program. Please contact Andrew Sweetman for more information.
