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Oregon Health Authority

Drinking Water Source Protection

Drinking Water Source Protection Program  

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Oregon’s Drinking Water Source Protection Program was developed during the early 1990s and approved by EPA in 1996. It has been and is currently implemented through a partnership between Oregon Health Authority (OHA) and the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The program originally focused on groundwater and was called Wellhead Protection. The 1996 amendments to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act added funding for the inclusion of surface water protection, which is often referred to separately as Source Water Protection. As Oregon’s program has evolved to focus on protection of groundwater and surface water resources for public water supplies, it is now referred to as Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP). Go to Oregon's Drinking Water Source Protection Program to read more about the history.

Oregon’s program is designed to encourage and assist public water systems with the voluntary development and implementation of strategies to protect the raw water sources (such as rivers, lakes, springs, and wells) that their drinking water supplies are drawn from. DWSP includes a wide variety of voluntary actions that, through preserving and/or improving water quality, may help reduce the risk of contamination and costs associated with public exposure to contaminants and costly water treatment plant upgrades or replacement. (See the Emerging Contaminants in Drinking Water web page for information about cyanotoxins, PFAS, and other contaminants.)

To encourage and assist public water systems with implementation of effective DWSP strategies, OHA and DEQ provide Source Water Assessments that identify public water system drinking water source areas, potential contaminant source risks within those areas, and recommended risk reduction strategies for the identified potential contaminant sources. The agencies also provide technical assistance, implementation resources, and funding for drinking water source protection activities. Water systems and water system operators interested in protecting their drinking water sources are encouraged to click on the topics below for detailed information and downloadable tools and resources.

Between 1999 and 2005, all Oregon public water systems that had at least 15 connections or served more than 25 people year-round received a Source Water Assessment (SWA) report completed by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and OHA. These assessments provide the water system, as well as the larger community, information regarding the watershed (for surface water systems) or the critical portion of the aquifer (for groundwater systems) that supplies the well, spring, or surface water intake (the drinking water source area). Within the identified drinking water source area, the SWA report identifies the potential contaminant sources present, areas of aquifer or watershed sensitivity, and an assessment of water system susceptibility to the potential contaminant sources present within the drinking water source area.

The SWAs are meant to identify the potential contaminant sources that the water system is highly and moderately susceptible to so that public water systems, consumers, and the larger community can initiate and promote voluntary strategies to protect long-term water quality and minimize future expenses for drinking water treatment. Many public water systems have used their SWAs as the foundation for drinking water source protection planning and as background information to help develop place-based integrated water resources plans.

Since 2016, the agencies have been updating the original SWA reports to provide water systems and communities more detailed information about the watershed or drinking water source area that supplies their wells, springs, or intakes.

Obtain Your SWA Report

  • Surface water systems can obtain a copy of their SWAs from DEQ's SWA Reports web page​.
  • Groundwater systems can obtain a copy of their SWAs by contacting Paula Rich, OHA Drinking Water Services, at paula.j.rich@oha.oregon.gov​. Reports are supplied only to water system personnel because of security concerns.​​

Drinking water source protection in the state of Oregon is voluntary. Public water systems can protect their sources of drinking water by implementing protection strategies. To be recognized by the state, these protection strategies must address the risks within the drinking water source area identified in the water system's ​Source Water Assessment report or potential hazards that have developed since the report was completed. 

These protection strategies can be implemented through actions taken by state and federal agencies, regional management authorities, local government, local partners, and the water system. By properly addressing contaminant sources within the drinking water source area that pose a high or moderate risk to water quality, the water system may be recognized by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and OHA as having implemented a strategy or group of strategies that substantially protect the water supply.

Drinking Water Sour​​​ce Protection Fund

Annually, OHA accepts Funding Letters of Interest for Drinking Water Source Protection​ activities. The purpose of the funding, which is in form of grants and loans, is to help water systems implement source protection strategies. Projects eligible for funding must fall within one or more of the following project types:
  • Enhance and update source area delineations
  • Enhance and update Source Water Assessments
  • Source protection planning
  • Protection strategy implementation
  • Aquifer or watershed security
For examples of previous drinking water source protection funded projects completed since 2008, see the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Drinking Water Source Protection Funded Projects for Public Water Systems Interactive GIS Map​​.
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Public water systems that complete a project focused on implementing protection strategies may be identified by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality or OHA as being substantially protected and be eligible for a Drinking Water Source Protection Award.

A drinking water source protection plan identifies proposed or continuing management actions that reduce the risk of contamination to sources of drinking water. In Oregon, developing a drinking water source protection plan is voluntary. If a public water system and community choose to develop such a plan, they can submit it to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) for certification (under OAR 340-040-0170 for groundwater sources) or approval (for surface water systems). Even if a community elects not to develop a formal protection plan, OHA encourages the water system to implement drinking water source protection strategies.
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For more detailed information about drinking water source protection plans, see:

Drinking Water Source Protection Fund (DWSPF)​: This grant and low-interest loan program is designed to finance drinking water source protection projects that would lead to risk reduction within a delineated source water area or would contribute to a reduction in contaminant concentration within the drinking water source area. Public and privately owned Community and nonprofit non-Community water systems with a completed Source Water Assessment (SWA) are eligible for funding. General grant and loan fund information available here includes how and when to submit a Letter of Interest.
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​Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF): This low-interest loan program is designed to finance drinking water system improvements needed to maintain compliance with the federal Safe Drinking Water Act​. Community and nonprofit non-Community water systems are eligible for funding. General loan fund information available here​ includes how and when to submit a Letter of Interest and a list of projects ready to be funded.​

For examples of previous drinking water source protection funded projects completed since 2008, see the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Drinking Water Source Protection Funded Projects for Public Water Systems Interactive GIS Map​​.
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​To acknowledge excellence in drinking water source protection efforts, the state of Oregon awards a certificate of recognition to water systems that have made substantial progress in implementing measures to protect their drinking water sources from contamination.

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Receipt of the award is displayed on each system’s Water System Information page on Data Online​ (see graphic below). The Drinking Water Source Protection Award may be used to promote consumer trust, positive customer relations, and public support in protecting drinking water sources.

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​To be eligible for the award, the water system must show that strategies are in place to reduce the risk of contamination from one or more high- or moderate-risk land-use activities within the drinking water source area. The strategy also must be commonly considered an effective risk-reduction measure for the drinking water supply (either groundwater or surface water). Risk-reduction strategies can be implemented through actions taken by state agencies, regional management authorities, local government, and the water system. 

To apply for the Drinking Water Source Protection Award, see the information below under Drinking Water Source Protection Activities Survey.

For risk-reduction examples and ideas, see DEQ's Protecting Your Source.


Drinking Water Source Protection Activities Survey

If your water system has implemented drinking water protection measures that protect your drinking water source from contamination and you are interested in receiving the Drinking Water Source Protection Award, please go here. To view your current status, go to Data Online, search for your system, and click Source Water Protection Status (see graphic below), ​From there, you may press the Source Protection Activities Survey button and complete the survey.

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Information provided in the survey will be used to document drinking water source protection activities and to determine if your water system is eligible to receive the award. If you have questions or would like further information, please contact Drinking Water Services at 971-673-0405 or email the Department of Environmental Quality at Drinkingwater.Protection@deq.oregon.gov​.