A new Web site has been launched to assist small and rural communities in West Virginia on how to protect and secure their drinking water.
The West Virginia University National Environmental Services Center and Rural Community Assistant Partnership worked together to develop the Web site, which targets local officials and organizations.
"The Web site is written in the perspective of problems that could occur and provides practicable and doable steps to implement solutions," said Sandra Fallon, NESC training specialist.
Launched in mid September, the Web site is part of The Water We Drink: Small Community Outreach Campaign, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Articles and educational resources such as newsletter articles, brochures, PowerPoint presentations and fact sheets are offered free through the Web site, and NESC plans to add more throughout the upcoming year.
This information is intended to be reprinted in magazines, pamphlets and newsletters, sent via e-mail or the Internet, or used for training or public presentations.
After Sept. 11, 2001, the interest in environmental security grew because of terrorists possibly tampering with water systems, said Mark Kemp-Rye, communications manager for the NESC.
There are a number of issues facing the purity of communities’ water supplies, Kemp-Rye said, including climate change, natural disasters, water pollution, overpumping of ground water and the need for workers in the field.
"The aging workforce places a huge problem because more than half of the workers in plants will be eligible to retire in the next five to 10 years," Kemp-Rye said.
He added the importance of communities realizing how to protect their water supply.
"In most places the public hasn’t even thought about protecting their water systems, and hopefully this Web site is supposed to express the importance," Kemp-Rye said.
The Web site has seen a good response since its establishment, Fallon said.
"I have heard feedback from other states that said they were going to pass on the information they had seen on the Web site to their local community contacts," she said.
The NESC was established at WVU in 1979 and is housed in the National Research Center for Coal & Energy building. Its goal is to improve and protect the water systems in small communities and assist them with environmental issues.
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