The Source Water Collaborative Learning Exchange is a platform for discussing current challenges, sharing stories, and transferring knowledge on source water protection (SWP).

Click the drop down for other Learning Exchange topics and resources

Source Water Protection Through Forestry Partnerships

“Healthy forests are vital to clean and abundant supplies of drinking water in the United States. Over 180 million Americans rely on drinking water captured and filtered by our forested lands. For this reason alone, it is absolutely essential that we work together across all agencies, ownerships, and obstacles to protect, conserve, and enhance our forests.”

- Vicki Christiansen, Chief of the US Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service

Featured Resources

Register for the Webinar: Source Water Protection Through Forestry Partnerships

Date/Time: February 17 from 2:30 – 4:00 pm (eastern time) Note: The time includes a 30-minute Teams meeting discussion with ...

Register for the Webinar: Benefits of Forests for Drinking Water

Date/Time: March 10, 2021 from 11:30 am – 1:30 pm (eastern time) Note: The time includes a 30-minute Teams meeting ...

Register for the Webinar: The Catawba-Wateree Initiative – A Case Study of Forests & Drinking Water Collaboration

Date/Time: April 15, 2021 from 2:30 – 4:45 pm (eastern time) Note: The time includes a 30-minute Teams meeting discussion ...

Register for the Webinar: Utilities in Action

Date/Time: May 13, 2021 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm (eastern time) Note: The time includes a 30-minute Teams meeting discussion ...

SWC & Member Resources



Forestry and Drinking Water Videos

America's Forests With Chuck Leavell: Colorado from 42 Degrees North Media on Vimeo.


Videos on forests and source water protection: Produced by the Southern Group of State Foresters

SWP Through Conservation Funding

The Source Water Collaborative Updates its Source Water Protection Through Conservation Funding Learning Exchange Page

In 2016, marking its 10th anniversary, the Source Water Collaborative (SWC) launched the Learning Exchange.  The Learning Exchange aims to strengthen the effectiveness of source water practitioners across the country by providing a platform to share experiences, transfer knowledge, and (...)
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“Water utilities and land owners are eager to collaborate on projects that protect public health and the environment, reduce the cost of water treatment and help agriculture producers succeed.”

- G. Tracy Mehan, III, Executive Director of Government Affairs, American Water Works Association

Featured Resources

Watch the Webinar: Updates from NRCS and the Northeast: Partnering to Protect Drinking Water – June 4, 2020

Featuring presenters from NRCS sharing information about the new bulletin on selecting priority source water protection areas in each state.

Watch the Webinar: Working with NRCS and Agricultural Partners to Protect Drinking Water Sources – June 25, 2019

This webinar included information about NWQI and other NRCS programs.

Watch the Webinar: Conservation Funding & Drinking Water Utilities – Jan 11, 2018

Showcasing efforts to support agricultural producers through the USDA’s RCPP (Regional Conservation Partnership Program).

Example of a successful RCPP Pre-proposal

Review the Middle Cedar Partnership Project's pre-proposal, the first step in the RCPP application process.

Example of a successful RCPP Full proposal

The Middle Cedar Partnership Project was selected to submit a full proposal with more extensive requirements.

Partnering for Success: The Middle Cedar Partnership Project

16 organizations leverage $2 million in RCPP funding to protect the source of drinking water for Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

NWQI Watershed and Source Water Protection Area Selection and Criteria

In this bulletin, the NRCS STCs are directed to propose protection areas based on delineations provided by drinking water partners.

AWWA: Farm Bill Key in Protecting Drinking Water

Watch American Water Works Association's (AWWA) video describing how partnerships between the water and agricultural communities are vital to source water protection and how Congress can help address the issue.


RCPP Source Water Protection Projects Map

Click on the map image below to explore RCPP projects from across the country that are helping protect and improve source water quality as well as combat drought, enhance soil health, support wildlife habitat, and protect agricultural viability. Project descriptions and information were obtained from the  Regional Conservation Partnership Program website.

Linking SWP to Emergency Preparedness

SWC Learning Exchange: Linking Source Water Protection to Emergency Preparedness

With spills and contamination events making headlines across the country, drinking water utilities face an array of challenges protecting their source waters from man-made and natural disasters. Is your community or utility prepared for a day without water? Strong partnerships (...)
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“Water systems must be prepared for a wide range of potential problems.  Spills making headlines across the country highlight that regional communication and coordination is essential to ensure faster response actions to safeguard public health.”

- Alan Roberson, Executive Director, Association of State Drinking Water Administrators

Featured Resources

Watch the Webinar: Linking Source Water Protection and Emergency Preparedness & Response

This webinar will provide recommendations on how to improve planning for emergency preparedness and response.

River Alert Information Network (RAIN)

Early warning monitoring system that notifies decision makers to ensure faster implementation of actions.

Preparing and responding to an emergency

Resources from our diverse member network to help your utility & community prepare & respond to a drinking water event.

A Methodology for Locating and Managing Dynamic Potential Contaminant Data

A methodology from the Water Research Foundation on identifying, visualizing and analyzing potential contamination sources upstream of drinking water intakes.

USGS Health-Based Screening Levels (HBSLs)

Can be used during source water contamination events to determine potential human health concern & help prioritize response efforts.

Featured Story: Pennsylvania’s Early Warning Systems

PA & neighboring states' development of early warning systems among community water systems, and other partners.

Creative Partnerships

The Source Water Collaborative Marks 10 Years by Launching the Learning Exchange

Marking its tenth year, the Source Water Collaborative (SWC) is pleased to announce the launch of the Learning Exchange—an information sharing platform for people and organizations working to protect sources of drinking water. With the Learning Exchange, the SWC aims (...)
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“The national SWC's diverse member connections have helped open doors for our region's collaboratives. We've built so many new partnerships with the Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service and conservation districts. I encourage everyone to check out the SWC member list for inspiration.”

- Kira Jacobs, EPA Region 1, New England

Featured Resources

Watch the Creative Partnerships Webinar

Featuring Lynn Thorp with Clean Water Action, Steve Via with AWWA. and Jim Capurso, with the U.S. Forest Service.

Top Tips For Partnerships

Download the SWC's top tips and links to helpful resources.

Featured Case Study

Bromide Discharges from Power Plants: A Clean Water Act-Safe Drinking Water Act Integration Story

Featured Case Study

U.S. Forest Service and Geos Institute formed the Oregon-Washington Drinking Water Providers Partnership

Upcoming Events

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Sample Tweets

Help promote this month's Learning Exchange by tweeting about our activities and resources.

Click the mail icon to email the Twitter link

Join and hear tips from @AWWAACE, @cleanh2oaction and @ForestServiceNW on forming partnerships. http://www.asdwa.org/swcwebinarseries2016

The @SourceWaterCol has tools to help u build creative #SourceWaterProtection partnerships. https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/learningexchange

The @SourceWaterCol celebrates 10yrs by launching new online resources! Check it out! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/learningexchange

@SourceWaterCol Launches Learning Exchange! Bolster your #SourceWaterProtection efforts! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/learningexchange

Forming & Sustaining Collaboratives

SWC Learning Exchange: Forming and Sustaining Source Water Protection Collaboratives

This month the Source Water Collaborative Learning Exchange will showcase the work of local, state, and regional source water protection partnerships. These source water collaboratives constitute a diverse set of entities with differing geographic scopes, water and pollution concerns, collaborative (...)
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“When the opportunity to form a partnership presented itself, there was no question that it would be the most effective way for our organizations to support watershed restoration projects that provided clean, affordable drinking water to communities and protected native fish populations.”

- Jim Capurso, US Forest Service, Member Drinking Water Protection Partnership

Featured Resources

Watch the Forming & Sustaining Collaboratives Webinar

Hear experiences from well-established and newly forming collaboratives.

Share These Tips for Forming a New Collaborative

Links to resources that will help your partnership get started

Share These Tips for Sustaining Your Collaborative

Links to resources that will help motivate and engage your partners

Featured Story: Eastern Lancaster County SWP Collaborative

This former SWC pilot and active collaborative highlights agricultural & residential workgroup successes

Featured Story: SWP Initiative for Newport Water Supply Reservoirs

Learn how this RI partnership formed to protect its 9 source water reservoirs

Featured Story: Southeastern Partnership for Forests and Water

Learn about this new collaboration’s goals and current partners

Sample Tweets

Help promote this month's Learning Exchange by tweeting about our activities and resources.

Click the mail icon to email the Twitter link

Partnerships increase the chances for success over going it alone! Get a #SourceWaterProtection partnership going! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much"- Help for #SourceWaterProtection! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

Big impacts are made when partners w/a shared interest unite w/a desire & ability to act. https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

As @SourceWaterCol members we know the value of collaboration. Gr8 info to get yours started https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

Join the @SourceWaterCol & get some partnership tips & inspiration! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

As @SourceWaterCol members we know the value of collaboration. Tips to get yours started. https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

Funding for Source Water Protection

SWC Learning Exchange: Funding Source Water Protection

Securing clean drinking water is increasingly difficult in the United States. Aging infrastructure, increasing demand, extreme weather fueled by climate change, and rapidly developing landscapes are taxing capacities, driving up cost of water treatment, and posing challenges to the long-term (...)
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“Securing a sustainable source of funding was key to our success. Together, eight cities and water districts that provide drinking water to over 300,000 Oregonians could maximize impact and save money by capitalizing on economies of scale, and could do so in a manner that was fair to all.”

- Kim Swan, Water Resources Manager, Clackamas River Water Providers

Featured Resources

Watch the Funding for Source Water Protection Webinar

Hear about new eligibilities for accessing the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds for source water protection, and tips for leveraging ...

Watch the Accelerating Investment in Watershed Protection Webinar

Featured panelists: U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities; World Resources Institute; and Beaver Water District

Key Funding Resources Every Source Water Stakeholder Should Know

Download a resource document with quick links and descriptions of various government and private grants.

Featured Story: Nebraska Pioneers DW Management Plans to Access CWA Funds for Source Water Protection

Featured Story: Oregon Coalition Pools $ to Finance Source Water

Learn how Clackamas River Water Providers combines membership dues and grants to fund projects and research.

Featured Story: Leveraging Federal Funding to Restore New Hampshire Drinking Water

Restoring Pennichuck Water Works’ Source Watershed

Sample Tweets

Help promote this month's Learning Exchange by tweeting about our activities and resources.

Click the mail icon to email the Twitter link

Panel of #SourceWaterProtection experts provide insights & answer questions on watershed investment programs. http://asdwa.org/swcwebinarseries2016

It's no secret finding funding & support for #SourceWaterProtection can be tricky. Got questions? Ask the experts http://asdwa.org/swcwebinarseries2016

Tips on watershed investment programs from experts @WorldResources, @bwdh2o & the Endowm't 4 Forestry & Communities http://asdwa.org/swcwebinarseries2016

Bring your #SourceWaterProtection funding ??s to @WorldResources, @bwdh2o & the Endowm't for Forestry & Communities. http://asdwa.org/swcwebinarseries2016

Collaboratives have more funding options than they think. @SourceWaterCol Learning Exchange has resources to help! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

It’s no secret, funding is key to a collaborative’s success, but often a mystery. @SourceWaterCol can help u find $! https://sourcewatercollaborative.org/connect-with-others/learningexchange/

Nutrient Reduction Successes

SWC Learning Exchange: Why Everyone Should Care About Nutrient Pollution

Co-Authored by SWC Members: Jim Taft (ASDWA), Lynn Thorp (Clean Water Action) and Karen Wirth (EPA’s Source Water Protection Team) This month, the Source Water Collaborative’s Learning Exchange will feature efforts to reduce nutrient pollution in sources of drinking water. (...)
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“EPA’s Office of Water fosters and supports partnerships and collaboration which are critical to making sustained progress on reducing nutrient pollution, a growing and significant threat to water quality and public health.”

- Joel Beauvais, Deputy Assistant Administrator, US EPA Office of Water

Featured Resources

Watch The Webinar: Messaging SWP In Agricultural Communities

Hear success stories on engaging farming communities to reduce nitrates in ground water

SWC’s Agricultural Partner Collaboration Toolkit

Tips for partnering with Conservation Districts and State Conservationists to reduce nutrient pollution

Protect the Source: A Story Map

Communities across the country are working together to eliminate nutrient pollution in their sources of drinking water. Click on the interactive story map below to learn more about the causes and sources of nutrient pollution and to browse projects to reduce nutrients in your area.

To use the Story Map:
  • Click the image below to open the map in your browser
  • Scroll down through pages using your mouse roller or the browser arrows
  • Jump to a story section by clicking a bookmark in the webpage header
  • You may also navigate maps embedded within the story map pages by clicking on the map and using the built-in browser tools
  • At the end of the map you will find a “Project Inventory” of examples of what some communities across the country are doing to eliminate nutrient pollution in their sources of drinking water
To use the “Project Inventory” Map:

Click images on the sidebar at left or on map pins to view project summaries

To feature your project on this Map:
  • Share a brief description on how you are reducing nutrient pollution in source water to info@sourcewatercollaborative.org
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