If you would like to work with a TA provider, head over to the DWSP2 webpage and complete an application. Once completed, submit the application by using the submit button at the bottom of the PDF. If anyone has any questions, reach out to the DWSP2 Team at source.water@dec.ny.gov.

An example wellhead protection overlay (WP. - shown in blue) over “base” zoning districts. R - Residential, AG - Agriculture, C - Commercial, I - Industrial, NR - Natural Resource)

• Boundaries: The first step to developing an overlay zone is to map the zone’s boundaries. This could be done by looking at topographic maps, subwatershed maps, or hydrogeologic maps. A field investigation by an engineer or a hydrologist may be needed to determine the exact boundary. Think of this as the broader geographic area within which your standards (coming up next) will apply. 
• Standards: Next, you need to develop standards that will reduce or mitigate adverse impacts that development or other activities might otherwise have on the waterbody. Such standards could be limitations on impervious surface cover, setbacks or buffers between a structure or land use and waterbody, restricting the use of hazardous materials, and erosion control. It could be beneficial to have a diverse committee of stakeholders when drafting standards such as:
  • Local Drinking Water Operator
  • Local Governing Board Representative
  • Municipal or Local Engineer
  • Zoning Board of Appeals Member
  • Environmental and Civic Groups
  • Comprehensive Plan Committee Member
  • Local Planning Board Member
  • Local Natural Resource Professors
  • Local Attorneys
  • Local Developers

If you have already been working on DWSP2, your current stakeholder group may check off many of these boxes! By having a diverse group, stakeholders can work through contentious issues, create standards that are acceptable not only to the group but the community at large, and set the foundation for easier administration (next step!).

• Review Procedures: At this point, your diverse stakeholder group has reviewed and decided on an overlay boundary and standards to protect the waterbody. Before the overlay can be administered, it’s time to decide what kind of review process your overlay zone needs. Does the regulated activity, such as large-scale residential development, require a special review? Or something occurring throughout the overlay district at the local level, such as the use of fertilizer by homeowners? These are questions your stakeholder group will need to answer when deciding on what type of review procedure the standards in your overlay zone need.

So, you think a source water protection overlay district is exactly what your community needs but what would really help is to see an overlay district in action Luckily, municipalities across the state have been successfully utilizing overlay districts for many years. We summarized and linked to a few examples below.

• Increasing the size of protected wetland buffers.
• Regulating small wetland areas below 1/10 of an acre.
• Adopting a specific wetlands assessment model for performing wetlands functional analyses for all development projects that involve wetland impacts.
• Restricting the number of wetland crossings.
• Promoting more effective planning of lot layout and design.
• Requiring a 2:1 mitigation replacement ratio for wetland and wetland buffer impacts caused by development.

Town of New Paltz

Town of Oneonta

• Prohibition or restriction of any activity, situation, structure, or land use within the Watershed District which poses a threat to municipal water supplies including inadequate on-site sewage disposal systems, inadequate sedimentation and erosion control measures, improper storage or disposal of junk, trash or other refuse, the absence or improper implementation of a spill containment plan for toxic or hazardous materials, etc. 
• Reduction of the amount of nutrients, sediment, organic matter, pesticides, and other pollutants that reach watercourses or aquifers by requiring applications for new activities to:
  • Demonstrate compliance with all applicable federal, state and local regulations and standards relating to such materials and activities.
  • Utilize best management practices to minimize flooding and concentrated flows of stormwater and other natural functions.
• And more!

• DOS Wetland and Watercourse Protection Measures
• DOS Model Local Laws to Increase Resiliency
• EPA Urban Runoff: Model Ordinances for Source Water Protection
• Overlay Zoning to Protect Surface Waters
• The Value of Wetlands: Documentary
• Adopting Zoning for the First Time
• Planner’s Guide to Wetland Buffers for Local Governments