Eastern Shore of Virginia Sole Source Aquifer
In 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the fresh ground water that supplies all drinking water on the Eastern Shore of Virginia as the Columbia and Yorktown-Eastover Multiaquifer System Sole Source Aquifer. The designation provides protection to the Shore’s water supply by requiring the EPA to review proposed projects on the Shore that are receiving federal financial assistance to ensure they do not endanger the water source.
What is a Sole Source Aquifer?
The EPA established the Sole Source Aquifer designation as a tool to protect drinking water supplies in areas with few or no alternative sources to the ground water resource, and where if contamination occurred, using an alternative source would be extremely expensive.
EPA defines a sole or principal source aquifer as one which supplies at least 50 percent of the drinking water consumed in the area overlying the aquifer. These areas can have no alternative drinking water source which could physically, legally, and economically supply all those who depend upon the aquifer for drinking water. For convenience, all designated sole or principal source aquifers are referred to as “sole source aquifers” (SSA). More extensive information about SSAs in the country can be found on the EPA web site.