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What is DWGB?
The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) was created
in early 1987 as a result of legislative efforts to reorganize several
previously separate agencies dealing with environmental matters into a
single, coordinated agency. Within NHDES, there are three divisions which
deal with air resources, waste management, and water resources. This last
unit, the Water Division (WD), includes several bureaus, one of which is
the DWGB. Other bureaus within the Water Division deal with surface water
pollution, wastewater treatment, groundwater protection, stream and lake
biology, and water resources management. The work of the Waste Management
Division may also have an effect on water quality in more subtle, but no
less important ways. The agency addresses many varying aspects of protection
of surface water and groundwater supplies.
Much of the work performed by DWGB depends on output from DES's laboratory,
which is part of DES's office of the Commissioner, which oversees the overall
function of DES. The laboratory performs a wide range of water quality
tests for private and public water supplies.
In finding solutions to water supply problems, the DWGB staff may coordinate
with any number of professionals elsewhere in NHDES. Topics currently under
discussion which may have a bearing on public water supplies in one way
or another include:
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Expansion of long-term efforts to protect quality of water sources
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Possible conflicts with competing needs for limited surface water resources,
such as recreation, fish management and dilution of treated wastewater
effluent.
NHDES is the agency designated to supervise public water systems under
the federal Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA), and it is eligible for receipt
of federal funding for this purpose. Consequently, much of the work at
DWGB is dictated by the SDWA, including maximum contaminant levels (MCLs),
monitoring schedules, and water system inspections.These standards, although
mandated by the federal government, are designed to protect public health,
and were created at the national level in response to concerns expressed
to the U.S. Congress regarding the need for strict standards in the drinking
water industry.
Our goal is to make our operations as accessible and as helpful as possible
in solving problems in an often difficult field.
See Fact Sheet: Responsibilities of NHDES's Drinking Water and Groundwater Bureau
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