The criteria also include protection of water supply reservoirs by buffer zones and management practices to be established by reservoir owners and approved by the Department of Natural Resources. Therefore, more stringent watershed protection criteria are established for water supply watersheds less than 100 square miles in size. Since existing water supply sources as well as future sources must be protected, the criteria apply to both existing and future water supply watersheds. This protection is necessary for the enhancement of public health, safety and welfare as well as to assure that surface sources of drinking water are of high quality in order to be treated to meet all State and Federal drinking water standards. Specific buffer uses may be defined by local governments consistent with these criteria.
Examples are buildings, roads, driveways, parking lots, decks, swimming pools, or patios.
This excludes the multipurpose reservoirs owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. These criteria shall apply to all governments located within water supply watersheds. Exceptions to coverage may be allowed for watersheds providing secondary or emergency sources of water only. These criteria do not apply to watersheds not used for public drinking water supply. Standards established in the Metropolitan Rivers Protection Act and the Erosion and Sedimentation Act are not superseded by these criteria.