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HISTORY: OVERVIEW

Since the beginning of civilization communities have always needed to find a safe clean supply of water. People have always used surface water because it was easy to obtain. However, surface water was often polluted or unavailable, in this case they dug wells. One of the earliest protections for water wells in the Americas was by Governor Gage of Virginia in 1610, he said:

"There shall be no man or woman dare to wash any unclean linen, wash clothes,...nor rinse or make clean any kettle, pot, or pan or any suchlike vessel within twenty feet of the old well or new pump. Nor shall anyone aforesaid, within less than a quarter mile of the fort, dare to do the necessities of nature, since by these unmanly, slothful, and loathsome immodesties, the whole fort may be choked and poisoned."

--Governor Gage of Virginia, Proclamation for Jamestown, Va. (1610)

Up until the 1970s groundwater was thought to be naturally protected from contaminants because the layers of soil and rocks would act like a filter and remove and trap the contaminants before they could reach the groundwater. This is when many people began to realize that their actions affect the environment and ultimately their health and well being. This is the period when many environmental laws were past at the federal, state and local levels.

Federal Laws

Wellhead Protection Program