Program Area: Drinking Water and Rural Urban Interface Landowner Education
Situation and Objectives:
Many people in the Southern Region have access to public water supplies, but up to half of rural residents rely on private water supplies, primarily from wells, to meet their domestic needs. In general, public supplies are of good quality; however, citizens drinking from private sources are at greater risk for water quality problems and are responsible for solving such problems. Many of these citizens are in the rural urban interface, as the Southern Region population continues to grow rapidly. To avoid negative impacts on water quality caused by changes in land use, it is critical to provide information to the public about both on-site consequences and off-site impacts, particularly at the rural/urban interface. The objective of this Program is to support regional planning, collaboration and information sharing to improve drinking water and rural urban interface environmental management by providing landowners the knowledge needed to protect water resources.
Actions: 
The regional Focus Area Team utilizes University expertise in Economics, Sociology, Planning, Landscape Architecture, and Natural Resources, along with partners such as local governments and state environmental agencies, to accomplish the following:
- Identify and compile existing research and educational resources for drinking water and rural urban interface management and define and prioritize significant gaps that should be addressed. Multi-state teams design collaborative proposals and seek funding to support coordinated applied research projects and development of educational resources.
- Facilitate the development of educational programs including guidance documents for addressing drinking water and rural urban interface issues and training sessions for educators, government officials, landscape architects, developers, and engineers.
- Provide access for existing and newly developed resources and templates on the regional water quality database.
Recent Products
- Sanitizing Stored Water Supplies
This guide provides information regarding maintaining the quality and cleanliness of water stored in tanks.
- Down-well camera video
A video camera can help well owners learn about water quality problems in private wells. Due to the large file size, we recommend only downloading the video if you have a high-speed connection. - Drinking Water Scams PowerPoint Presentation
We have developed a better understanding of water and its many unusual properties; however, this has not stopped charlatans from employing all sorts of pseudoscience, absolute nonsense, or outright lies and trickery to profit from people's superstitions, fears, or ignorance about water. This presentation makes people more aware of drinking water scams so they can better recognize and deal with them accordingly. - Farm and Forest Land Preservation with Conservation Easements
Conservation easements allow landowners to preserve or limit current and future uses of their farms and forests. This publication provides basic information on conservation easements, as well as links to current state statutes governing conservation easements. - PowerPoint presentation describing conservation easements and the steps involved in creating them.
Impacts:
Enhanced regional and multi-agency collaboration for drinking water and rural urban interface management; increased knowledge and awareness of techniques for drinking water and rural urban interface management; improved water quality as a consequence of better-informed land management.
For information on additional Land Grant University programs and research in Southern Region states addressing drinking water and rural urban interface education, return to the home page, select a state and choose from Target Themes.