Catawba Wateree Water Management Group 2015 Annual Report

Source Water Protection Grants

In 2018, the CWWMG convened a Source Water Protection Task Force of CWWMG members along with representatives of local land trusts and the Catawba Wateree Initiative. The purpose of the Task Force was to develop an action plan for the CWWMG to address source water protection in the Catawba-Wateree River Watershed.

Based on research conducted by RTI International on the CWWMG sponsored Water Research Foundation project, Quantifying the Potential Benefit of Land Conservation on Water Supply to Optimize Return on Investments, and the resulting Conservation Prioritization Tool for Source Water Protection Planning, the Task Force created a set of evaluation guidelines.

This project involved:

• Collecting information about existing demand management programs and identified program successes and failures.
• Surveying represented small, medium and large water providers and included many of the national leaders in demand management.
• Compiling the results that are being used to develop a coordinated water demand management program for the CWWMG.

In 2024, the Task Force became a standing committee of the CWWMG and continues to review, evaluate, and recommend opportunities for the CWWMG to engage in source water protection efforts in the Catawba-Wateree Basin. Working with RTI, the Committee also continues to refine their tools to improve evaluation and address a widening array of source water protection opportunities.

To date, the CWWMG has invested over $200,000 to protect water quality in the basin and actively engaged in outreach to third parties for additional support.