Bringing Agriculture and Drinking Water Utilities Together for Source Water Protection

Key Takeaways While point-source discharges are regulated for source water contamination, that's not necessarily the case with agricultural nonpoint sources. Partnerships between drinking water utilities and farmers benefit from a mutual understanding of each partner's efforts and challenges in source water protection. Examples of long-standing collaborations between utilities and agricultural interests serve as models for new source water protection projects. The Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 mandates that 10% of all conservation funds or $4 billion over 10 years is to be spent on source water protection.