The ratings are meant to provide the water system operators, community leaders and planners a system to prioritize their management measures and are not meant to be absolute risk ratings. In other words, a high rating does not necessarily mean that the public water supply system is highly susceptible to contamination from a potential pollution source. Instead, a high rating means that compared to a potential pollution source with a moderate rating, this facility poses more of a threat to the drinking water source. The draft Source Water Assessment Program plan includes several examples of how the risk posed by potential sources of contamination, including agricultural sources, to a public drinking water supply source would be evaluated. The availability of safe drinking water is vital to the economy of this state and important to every person living in this state.
Most people are good stewards of the land and natural resources.
Most people are responsible citizens who wish to do what they can to maintain their quality of life and to protect the natural resources that contribute to their quality of life. However, sometimes it is not clear what can or should be done to protect those resources. The source water assessments will provide some of this information. The source water assessments will provide information regarding the relative risk posed by a facility or a land use to possible contamination of a public drinking water supply. Once this risk is known, individual citizens can work to reduce this risk.