|
With each passing year, DWSP2 expands its connection with New York State (NYS) communities and continues to establish itself as a leading program for helping municipalities protect their public drinking water sources. In 2025, DWSP2 again delivered on its fundamental goals of protecting water quality, minimizing potential source water contamination, promoting local resiliency and strengthening community partnerships. Read on to learn more details about the program, including accomplishments, new collaborations, and the overall state of DWSP2.
DWSP2 is a locally led, state supported program that empowers NYS municipalities to proactively protect their community public water supplies. DWSP2 continues to offer technical assistance (TA) – free of charge – to support municipalities in producing and progressing a local DWSP2 program which includes:
- Creating a stakeholder group
- Developing source water maps
- Identifying source water protection and management methods and developing priority actions
- Initiating plan implementation
- Establishing a Program Management Team (PMT) to carry implementation forward
DWSP2 is designed to build off previous work, help align priorities and fill any gaps within a municipality's current and future source water protection efforts. The program is separated into two distinct phases (plan development and plan implementation) to ensure a straightforward process throughout involvement in the program.
The program helps connect municipalities with their constituents on the topic of protecting source water. By participating in DWSP2, municipalities can create and strengthen connections within and even outside their community. Additional benefits include:
- Promoting public health and safety
- Supporting economic vitality
- Enhancing environmental protection and source water-related recreational opportunities
DWSP2 has helped 102 municipalities across NYS, serving 2,505,604 water consumers and evaluated 134 source waters to date.
Thanks to the dedication and hard work of DWSP2 participants, TA providers, and state staff, this year saw several DWSP2 communities adopt their plans at the local level. In 2025, DWSP2 communities worked collaboratively with their TA providers to complete the plan development phase of the program. DWSP2 plans and the source water protection actions they focus on continue to be an important part of NYS community planning. If you are interested in reading one of 13 publicly available DWSP2 plans, click the button below.
This year there was also notable progress on implementation for DWSP2 communities. Four communities began the implementation phase of their local DWSP2 program, which marks an increase to 33 total communities involved in the implementation of a local program.
Additionally, more DWSP2 communities have begun to take firmer ownership of leading and administering implementation of their local DWSP2 program. With extended technical support from the Department of Health (DOH), 15 DWSP2 communities are continuing to support the source water protection goals outlined in their original DWSP2 plan even after the conclusion of initial TA provider support. This is a trend that DWSP2 will sustain as more communities evolve from initial TA implementation to long-term Program Management Team implementation.
Plattsburgh Joint Water System Implementation Meeting where members of both the Town and Village share source water protection ideas and actions.
Communities have been successful in taking the implementation lead of their local DWSP2 program after initial free technical assistance concluded. Such is the case in the Town of St. Armand who applied to and received a Water Quality Improvement Project (WQIP) - Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection grant in 2024 following plan completion.
The Town of St. Armand applied for free technical assistance in 2022 to create and implement a local DWSP2 program to protect its source of drinking water. St. Armand worked closely with their technical assistance provider to create a stakeholder group, develop source water maps, define priority actions and implement key source water protection methods. One of their priority issues was to obtain ownership and control as well as an additional buffer area around their public water supply wells. The protection method selected by St. Armand to do address this priority was land acquisition.
While in the initial implementation phase of DWSP2, St. Armand and their TA provider worked on an application for the WQIP Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection grant through the Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process in May 2024. Throughout this process, St. Armand and their TA provider worked together to complete the requirements of this specific WQIP grant application type, which include but are not limited to negotiating purchase and sale agreements and confirming necessary local matches required by the grant.
Once work on the grant application was submitted, St. Armand began to work on land acquisition-related DWSP2 initiatives using the step-by-step process drafted in collaboration with their TA provider. In the time since submitting their CFA, St. Armand was awarded a WQIP Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection grant.
Working With the Essex County Office of Community Resources
Beginning in 2025 the Town of St. Armand’s initial implementation assistance ended. To further progress their WQIP Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection grant and associated grant requirements, St. Armand utilized a partnership made when developing their DWSP2 plan - Essex County Office of Community Resources (OCR). OCR, which specializes in assisting municipalities with grant administration, served as stakeholders on St. Armand’s DWSP2 plan. This paved the way for a natural working relationship with OCR as St. Armand transitioned out of their initial implementation assistance. St. Armand, OCR and other partners are actively working on completing the necessary documentation to receive approval for land purchases identified in their grant.
St. Armand continuing to support source water protection goals as outlined in their DWSP2 plan is a testament to the high standard at which the municipality places source water protection actions. The Town has modeled how to be a proactive community by capitalizing on the relationships built during the DWSP2 planning process and sustaining momentum on priority actions identified in their DWSP2 plan.
The full Town of St. Armand DWSP2 plan contains a complete list of steps to complete the WQIP Land Acquisition for Source Water Protection implementation action and includes details on several other priority issues. If interested, read the DWSP2 plan below by clicking the button or visiting the Participating DWSP2 Communities website.
In 2025, the DWSP2 team presented and tabled at several conferences across New York State to share information about the program and the benefits of participating in DWSP2. Staff advertised the program and engaged in meaningful conversations with municipal officials, water operators, stakeholders, and others about program participation, eligibility details, and recent source water quality-related issues (e.g., land use development and land cover changes and how these affect source water quality). In 2025, DWSP2 presented and tabled at the following conferences:
- New York Association of Towns Training School
- Mohawk Global Symposium
- New York’s American Water Works Association Event
- New York Conference of Mayors Fall Training School
- National Association of Conservation Districts Conference
- Upper Susquehanna Watershed Coalition Conference
- Central New York Water Works Conference
- Capital District Regional Planning Council Fall Planning & Zoning Workshop
- Erie County Water Quality Coordinating Committee Meeting
Attending these conferences provided the platform to promote DWSP2, increase engagement with potential participants, and on several occasions meet with current DWSP2 participants to discuss how their community is progressing with the program. As stated above, DWSP2 is committed to evolving its approach to outreach and exploring new avenues for connecting to municipalities on the important issue of proactive source water protection.
Tyler Bobko (DEC, left), Cody Hitt (DOH, middle), and Alyssa Bement (DOH, right) exhibiting at the 2025 NY Association of Towns Conference
With the success that DWSP2 has achieved since becoming established in 2017, program staff strive to consistently find ways in which DWSP2 can maintain and expand on their high standards heading into 2026 and beyond. This includes adapting the program’s outreach lens to build recognition and support for the program in all regions across NYS.
DWSP2 will expand relationships with groups at the regional level to further promote participation to a wider audience. The continued goal of program outreach is to maintain or improve the number of communities that opt into the program to ensure NYS source waters are properly protected.
$25 million is now available through the first round of a new program for land conservation partners to protect and preserve open space in New York State. Municipalities, not-for-profits, and Indian Nations or Tribes can apply for Clean Water, Clean Air and Green Jobs Environmental Bond Act funding through the Open Space Conservation Grant Program to purchase land for permanent conservation. Open space conservation protects water and air quality, promotes access to green space, provides for habitat connectivity and diverse ecosystems, can mitigate the impacts of flooding and extreme heat, and promotes resilient communities for all New Yorkers.
With land acquisition being a high-priority implementation action for DWSP2 communities, the Open Space Conservation Grant Program offers another avenue for municipalities and TA providers to achieve source water protection goals. Applications are due by 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, February 18, 2026, in SFS Grants Management. Click the button to learn more below.
Hosting an event, webinar, or conference in 2025? Reach out to us at source.water@dec.ny.gov to schedule a presentation or tabling event. If you would like to learn more about DWSP2 and how it could help your municipality, fill out our Interest Form and a member of the DWSP2 team will contact you to discuss further.
Missed the previous edition? Visit the DWSP2 Newsletter Archive to stay up to date.
Have you begun the DWSP2 process? Or do you have a program or are you aware of a program relevant to source water? Send in any helpful hints or information at source.water@dec.ny.gov and we may highlight them!
Follow DEC on Instagram to see what more you can learn about Connecting Climate Change to Drinking Water.
|
