Source Water Protection Activity Guide

Quick Select

Use any of the following drop-down menus to navigate through the guide. Choosing a potential contaminant source category from the drop-down menu will narrow your potential contaminant source choices. Choosing a protection activity category from the drop-down menu will narrow your protection activity choices.

Contaminant Type

Potential Contaminant Source Category Potential Contaminant Source

Protection Activity Category Protection Activity

Fee Simple Land Acquisition

Protection Activity: Land Conservation

Fee simple land acquisition entails the outright purchase of land. Land is usually conveyed to a nonprofit organization or group, such as a land trust, for management. Land acquisition may be a valuable option for source water protection in cases where the governing body is lacking authority for ordinances or zoning. Areas to target for acquisition include sensitive lands such as recharge zones or lands predisposed to geologic sensitivity and possible contamination.

Resources for this Protection Activity:

Land Trust Alliance
The Land Trust Alliance works to quickly, effectively and permanently save land and natural resources.
The Trust for Public Land: The Source Protection Handbook
The handbook provides resources to help a community both make the case for land conservation and also go about actually conserving those lands.

Related Sources: