Updates to Wellhead Protection Viewer and East Lansing Meridian Water & Sewer Authority’s Wellhead Protection Plan

The Tri-County Regional Planning Commission (Tri-County), on behalf of the East Lansing-Meridian Water & Sewer Authority (ELMWSA), is pleased to announce the kickoff of a project that will update its wellhead protection plan and the region’s Wellhead Protection Viewer.

The Wellhead Protection Viewer, licensed and maintained by Tri-County and the Groundwater Management Board (GMB), is an interactive and free online mapping application for the region that provides a variety of data – including well locations, time of travel areas, potential contamination source locations, brownfields, and more – to municipalities so they can be better informed when making development decisions that may affect our region's groundwater resources. The application is a valuable resource for protecting our drinking water at its source, as planners can use its data to prepare site plan reviews, emergency response plans, and risk and resilience assessments.

Supported by a grant through the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), this project will update the current Wellhead Protection Viewer with the latest software and data analysis features. One of the key components of this mapping application is the interactive potential contamination source inventory available for communities to review. As part of a community’s wellhead protection plan, also known as a source water protection plan, these inventories help to develop comprehensive knowledge of potential threats to a community’s public water supply system. This leads to various actions communities can take to help protect their drinking water source.

Currently, a volunteer-based program, source water protection plans, holds seven key elements for approval by the State of Michigan. This includes the establishment of a source water protection team with roles and duties, identification of the source water protection area delineation (also known as time-of-travel areas), identification of potential sources of contamination within the source water area, development of strategies to manage potential contamination sources and minimize threats, development of contingency plans for water supply emergencies, identification of procedures for the development of new sources of water (such as drilling wells) and incorporating them into planning processes, and providing opportunities for public participation and education. Whether a community gets water from a lake, river, or groundwater source, each element of these plans works together to protect public water supply systems.

Tri-County staff will work with OHM Advisors to complete this project and release an updated version of ELMWSA’s wellhead protection plan and Wellhead Protection Viewer. Upon completion, Tri-County staff will host a free training session for local municipalities, utility providers, groundwater experts, and policymakers to discuss the changes made from the previous viewer, walk through new features, and highlight where additional training videos will be made available for public access.

Additional updates on the project will be shared during upcoming GMB meetings. Questions regarding the project may be directed to Lauren Schnoebelen at lschnoebelen@mitcrpc.org.