WHAT WE DO - Education - A Model Well Head Protection Ordinance

What it does

Well water is at risk from hazardous substances that leach into the ground and travel underground to the well area. 

The Model Municipal Well Head Protection Ordinance proposed by the Ground Water Protection Committee provides standards for keeping hazardous substances away from wells. By adopting an ordinance towns can help protect their own and their neighboring towns' drinking water.  The Model Ordinance will, among other things:

·             Prevent especially hazardous activities at locations where pollution can travel quickly to a well.

·             Require activities at more distant locations to use best management practices to avoid contamination of

        the ground that could reach a well in future years.

Priority Towns of the Central Basin

The Central Basin of the Passaic River Watershed straddles the upper river in eastern Morris and western Essex and Union Counties. This region draws a large part of its drinking water from community wells -- although some have already had to be closed.

The Passaic Valley Ground Water Protection Committee has identified 21 Central Basin towns in critical need of well water protection.

Representatives of the Committee will be describing the Model Ordinance at public presentations and hearings throughout the Central Basin in the coming months.

Learn More

The full text of the Model Ordinance is available here. For more information, or to schedule a presentation of the Model Municipal Well Head Protection Ordinance in your location, get in touch with Eugene Reynolds at Passaic River Coalition.

    This program has been funded under a Section 319(h) grant by the Division of Watershed Management of the

    New Jersey Department