Watershed Protection

Columbus Water Works recently completed a major watershed assessment and study that not only surveyed the Middle Chattahoochee River Watershed, but also emphasized source water protection. A watershed is a geographical area, usually bounded by ridgelines, where water drains to the lowest point - which may be a river, lake, or other body of water. It can best be pictured as a bowl - if drops of water land at any point along the inside of the bowl, they will flow down to the water in the bottom of the bowl. It's important to understand how streams, creeks, and other tributaries drain into the main body of water since each one can impact the water quality of the main water body. When that water body is used as a community's drinking water source, protecting it depends on managing these impacts.

CWW undertook the watershed assessment using what is called the "total maximum daily load (TMDL) process." This is a process that calculates the amount of pollution load - impacts to water quality - a given watershed can safely handle without compromising the environment. CWW has submitted its assessment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. NPDES is one of the criteria regulators use in granting wastewater effluent discharge permits to utilities. By getting the watershed assessment completed well in advance of the deadline, CWW can work on implementing the process and involving the community in it. CWW's leaders also expect that it will produce processes that can be used to benefit utilities nationwide in developing their own programs. Once again Columbus Water Works is leading the way in protecting the environment and sharing its knowledge with the utility industry.