Tacoma, Washington has a population of 200,000. It is located at the southern end of
Puget Sound in Washington State. Tacoma operates an unfiltered water system, which
serves over 300,000 people. Watershed protection for an unfiltered water system requires
much greater control of the watershed than is typically required for filtered water
systems. This control can range from having complete ownership of the land within the
watershed to having agreements with the landowners to restrict activities on and access to
those lands. Maintaining control requires coordination with a number of agencies
including local government, state health, ecology and fish and wildlife, and federal
agencies including the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), the Army Corps of Engineers and the National Marine Fisheries
Service. Local law enforcement also plays a strong role in maintaining watershed control.
Other entities have special rights to access the watershed for reasons unique to their
organizations. The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe has treaty rights with the United States
government and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad also has special rights
through federal law. Tacoma Water has developed a Habitat Conservation Plan for its
lands, which covers all wildlife in the watershed and logging on Tacoma's lands. The
Surface Water Treatment Rule allows Tacoma Water to operate an unfiltered water
system. Though difficult to satisfy, these requirements assure watershed control and
effective treatment of the drinking water.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 260 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 11 |
| Published : | 11/01/2002 |
