Wellhead Protection Program

Community Awareness and Involvement are Keys to

Preserving Clean Drinking Water

Often we do not think about water and the activities that affect it. Because drinking water is safe and available when needed, we don’t realize how fragile a resource it is.

Much of the water for Kennewick, about 2.4 billion gallons a year, comes from a shallow aquifer that is protected only by the soils and gravel that surround it. Oil, gas, fertilizers and other chemicals can all contaminate our drinking water, if they are allowed to reach it.

To ensure our water is always clean and safe to drink, Wellhead Protection Areas have been established and marked within Kennewick.

What Are Well Head Protection Areas?

Wellhead Protection areas are the land surrounding our water supply wells vital to the protection of our drinking water. Rainwater and snow melt provide water to replenish the aquifer that feeds our wells. If this water carries contaminants that are not filtered out by the native sands and gravels lying between the ground surface and the aquifer, then the aquifer can become contaminated. Kennewick Wellhead Protection Areas were determined by a computer modeling program, which calculated the areas based on the time that water with potential contaminants takes

Why are Wellhead Protection Areas Needed?

If contaminants are dumped or spilled in a Wellhead Protection Area, they can contaminate the aquifer and the drinking water from our wells. Cleaning contaminated source water is very difficult, if not impossible, and is an expensive and lengthy process to complete. It is safer and more cost-effective to prevent aquifer contamination than clean it up after it occurs.

Kennewick has completed an inventory of land use within our Wellhead Protection Areas and has identified potential contaminant sources within one year’s time of travel from our drinking water wells. Businesses identified in this inventory have been notified by mail that they are in a critical water supply area. Kennewick is actively taking steps to control risks of contamination and part of that is through raising community awareness.

Your Role in the Wellhead Protection Program:

The way we maintain our lawns, dispose of household chemicals and care for our automobiles can contribute to aquifer contamination. Some imporant ways we personally can help prevent groundwater pollution are monitoring our activities around home and thinking about how they can influence groundwater quality.

Practice Safe Gardening

Some chemicals designed to maintain lawn and gardens and control pests are very toxic and fertilizers can contribute nitrates to our water supply that can harm people and wildlife. Try to reduce use of herbicides and fertilizers by carefully following directions. Only buy small supplies of these chemicals that will be used quickly and dispose of spent products properly.

Minimize Household Hazardous Waste

Try to find substitutes for hazardous chemicals. Often there are biodegradable products you can buy that will do the same job and you don’t have to worry about storage and disposal. If no substitutes can be found, use products sparingly and buy only a small supply.

Dispose of Motor Wastes Properly

Dispose of all motor vehicle wastes such as oil, gasoline, antifreeze and batteries properly. A single gallon of gasoline can contaminate up to one million gallons of water and only a small amount of oil contamination can force communities to look for other water sources. In Kennewick, you can put oil and hydraulic fluid in sealed plastic jugs for curbside pickup and recycling by Waste Management of Kennewick.

Map of Wellhead Protection Area

This map represents the Kennewick Well Head Protection Areas for Ranney Collector Nos. 4 and 5. As shown, five areas with increasing Time of Travels are delineated. They range from 180 days to ten years with a b uffer zone. In actual groundwater systems, contaminants may move at different rates than the groundwater depending on the specific characteristics of the contaminant. Typically, contaminants move at rates much slower than the groundwater flow rate. Contaminants released at the grounds surface also travel vertically which may take longer to reach the actual groundwater depth. It is highly unlikely that potential contaminant sources located outside of this map could cause a water quality impact at the Ranney Collectors.

For information on disposal of garden chemicals, hazardous household wastes or motor vehicle wastes

and other products, please call:
Moderate Risk Waste Facility 942-7387

If you need additional information on Wellhead Protection,

please call: John Griffin, City of Kennewick, 585-4534

If you need additional information on Water Quality Issues,

please call: John Griffin, City of Kennewick, 585-4534