In November 2005, the Commonwealth of Virginia enacted the Local and Regional Water Supply Planning (WSP) Regulation (9 VAC 25-780-10)

• The purpose of the Regulation is to: 
  • ensure adequate and safe drinking water
  • encourage, promote, and protect all other beneficial uses of the Commonwealth's water resources; and
  • encourage, promote, and develop incentives for alternative water sources
• Establishes required planning process and criteria that local governments shall use in the development of local or regional WSPs
•  WSPs must encompass a planning horizon of 30 to 50 years and address both surface and groundwater use
• After a WSP is submitted to and reviewed by DEQ, the State Water Control Board will make a determination as to its compliance with the regulation
• WSPs must be reviewed by the locality every 5 years and revised and resubmitted if necessary; all WSP's must be reviewed, revised, and resubmitted to DEQ every 10 years

 
At the request of the local governments in northern Virginia, the Regional Commission has been coordinating the development of the Northern Virginia Regional Water Supply Plan:

• Plan Participants: 
  • Every County, City and Town within Northern Virginia with the exception of the Town of Hillsboro. The Plan is a partnership between Jurisdictions, local Water Authorities and the Regional Commission
  • Water Authorities are the lead for data collection within Jurisdictions service areas
  • The Regional Commission is lead for data collection for Non-municipal Community Water Systems and Wells
• The Regional Commission obtained assistance from the MWCOG and the ICPRB by aligning the Regional Population Projections and the Co-op Potomac River Forecasts to meet the local government’s planning horizon date needs
  
• Components of the Regional Water Supply Plan are required to include:

?  An inventory of existing water sources
?  An assessment of existing water use
?  An assessment of projected water demand
?  A statement of need if water supply demands exceed source availability within the planning horizon
?  An analysis of alternatives to address projected source water deficits if they existing
?  A description of water demand management actions
?  A drought Response and Contingency Plan

The Regional Commission along with the participating local governments and Water Authorities are entering the final stages of the Plan’s development.  A copy of the draft Northern Virginia Regional Water Supply Plan can be obtained by clicking on the following links. Due to the size of the document, hard copies of the Plan will not be available for distribution. Electronic copies of the individual Chapters can be obtained by clicking on the links. In order to view the documents you will need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer

Executive Summary

Section 1 – Introduction

Section 2 - Evaluation of Existing Water Supply

Section 3 - Existing Water Uses

Section 4 - Natural Resources

Section 5 - Demand Projections

Section 6 - Water Demand Management

Section 7 - Drought Response and Contingency Plan

Section 8 - Statement of Need

Section 9 - Water Source Alternatives Evaluation

Section 10 – References

Section 11 – Acronyms

Appendix A - SWAP Susceptibility Rankings

Appendix B - Available Water Source and Use Forms

Appendix C - Demand Projections

Appendix D - Drought Response and Contingency Plan

Appendix E - Water Demand Management Information

Appendix F - ICPRB Report

Appendix G - Natural Resource Information

Please note that as the document is still undergoing final review by the Department of Environmental Quality.