ASTM E3312-21 PDF

SIGNIFICANCE AND USE 4.1 This guide addresses issues related solely to strategies and the development of a plan to address wildfire-related physical and chemical changes to water resources in Source Water Protection Areas. This guide does not include specific advice on risk assessment. Mitigation strategies and planning may consist of a wide variety of actions by individuals, communities, or organizations to prepare for the impacts of wildfires on water quality and quantity in Source Water Protection Areas (see Guide E3136). 4.2 Source water protection activities not only help the utility identify risk, but they are also necessary to educate regulatory agencies, permitting authorities, and the community about the impacts that their actions can have on source water quality or quantity of the drinking water. 4.3 Example Users: 4.3.1 Federal, tribal, state, or municipal facility staff and regulators, including departments of health, water, sewer, and fire; 4.3.2 Financial and insurance institutions; 4.3.3 Federal, tribal, state, or local land managers; 4.3.4 Public works staff, including water systems, groundwater supplies, surface water supplies, stormwater systems, wastewater systems, publicly owned treatment works, and agriculture water management agencies; 4.3.5 Consultants, auditors, state, municipal and private inspectors, and compliance assistance personnel; 4.3.6 Educational facilities such as experimental forests and nature preserves; 4.3.7 Non-regulatory government agencies, such as the military; 4.3.8 Wildlife management entities including government, tribal, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs); 4.3.9 Cities, towns, and counties, especially in developing climate vulnerability strategies and plans; 4.3.10 Commercial and residential real estate property developers, including redevelopers; 4.3.11 Non-profits, community groups, and land owners. 4.4 Coordination and cooperation must fit into the process for improving community prepared... SCOPE 1.1 Overview—Wildfires pose a significant risk to water utilities as they can cause contaminants of concern to be released into surface water and groundwater supplies (1).2 This can endanger human health if systems were not designed to manage these contaminant loads. 1.2 Purpose—Mitigation measures of wildfire effects on sediment loads, trace minerals, and contaminants of concern on runoff in a Source Water Protection Area (2) is an expanding area of study that does not have a full set of regulations at the federal or state level. This guide provides public-sector and private-sector land managers and water utility operators details on how to assess the potential impacts of wildfires on watersheds and measures that can be employed to minimize or abate those impacts prior to a wildfire occurring or after it occurs. 1.2.1 This guide supplements existing watershed and Source Water Protection Area guidance. 1.2.2 This guide will recommend fuel management prior to a wildfire, suppression strategies during a wildfire, and mitigation opportunities for both forests and water treatment systems after the wildfire. It will also support collaboration between involved stakeholders (see Fig. 1 below). FIG. 1 Place-based characteristics for consideration when assessing threats to water supplies and treatment due to a wildfire (adapted from (3)). 1.2.3 The purpose of this guide is to provide a series of options that water utilities, landowners, and land managers can implement to limit the chance of a wildfire, specifically in a drinking water watershed, and mitigation opportunities to protect drinking water after a wildfire occurs. This guide encourages consistent management of forests to limit wildfire risks to water resources. The guide presents practices and recommendations based on the best available science to provide institutional and engineering actions to reduce the likelihood of a wildfire and the potentially disas...