Conserving Forests to Protect Water

Abstract

This article discusses how water suppliers are revisiting the idea of source protection and presents information from a study of 27 water suppliers conducted in 2002 by the Trust for Public Land and AWWA's Source Water Protection Committee that indicates operating treatment costs decreased as forest cover in a source area increased. The article discusses how many municipalities and water suppliers are considering land protection as part of a multiple‐barrier approach to providing safe drinking water. A case study of protecting the Edwards Aquifer in Austin, Texas, is presented, along with an explanation of how local and national land trusts work in partnership with local governments and water suppliers to help them permanently protect the highest‐priority lands in their source areas.