The organizations suggest that a percentage of Superfund money be available to assist local governments with ground water contamination issues and drinking water protection, and that more resources should target the local level to prevent contaminants from reaching underground sources of drinking water. Providing local communities with the opportunity to voluntarily protect their sources of water and prevent future contamination would save millions in remediation costs, and provide an alternative to more federal land-use regulations. Over 50,000 of the nation's 54,000 community water systems serve populations under 10,000 persons. A small town's greatest asset is its supply of water.
Nothing is more critical to both public health and the economy than water.
Once a town loses its water supply it ceases to thrive. NRWA and GWPC operate groundwater protection programs that are supported and operated by local communities, emphasizing results over federal bureaucracy. Their success is documented with a specific list of over 2,000 local communities that are adopting enforceable groundwater protection programs. Prevention of ground water contamination is always cheaper than remediation. Many rural communities have spent millions of dollars to clean contaminated water.