News Article

October 1, 2024 -

Help us celebrate National Source Water Protection Week (Sept. 29-Oct. 5) by taking action to help protect Ann Arbor's source water resources. Source water protection is key to both the health of Ann Arbor drinking water and the ecosystem of our community.

Protecting source water includes everyday actions each of us can do, such as:

• Consider using a mulching lawn mower to help leaves become fertilizer
• Help keep the area around storm drains clear of debris. Learn more about the adopt a storm drain program.
• Plant a tree. Trees help absorb and filter water of pollutants.  
• Clean up driveway spills as they happen and don't wash the material into the street.
• Don't pour hazardous waste down the drain, on the ground, or into catch basins. Washtenaw County has a Household Toxics program that can help you dispose of these items.
• Limit the use of pesticides or fertilizers, and always follow the label directions.
• Dispose of medications properly. Residents should take advantage of Washtenaw County's pharmaceutical take-back collection program that accept prescription or over-the-counter drugs.
• If you live near a stream or the river, grow a vegetative buffer between your mowed lawn and the water's edge.

Ann Arbor Water recently completed a Comprehensive Source Water Protection Plan that will be used to manage and protect our source waters that supply drinking water to the City of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor Township, and Scio Township. Some of the recommended management strategies to protect our water resources include working with communities upstream of our water sources to strengthen land use practices to improve water quality, identifying ways to make our water source more resilient to the impacts of climate change, partnering on regional tree planting efforts, supporting land acquisition efforts through Ann Arbor's recently created bluebelt, and increased water quality monitoring.

Ann Arbor Water is already doing many of these things in our daily work to protect our source waters, but the plan and recommended strategies expand on those efforts and ensure source water protection remains a top priority.​

Visit the city's source water protection webpage for more information.