Saco River Drinking Water Resiliency Project

The Saco River is the primary source of drinking water for much of southern Maine, and one of the five great river basins in the state (the other four being the Kennebec River, the Androscoggin River, the St. Croix River, and the St. John River). Recent chemical spills, such as the Elk River Spill in West Virginia (2014), and the Animas River Spill in Colorado (2015), are stark reminders of the vulnerability of some community drinking water supplies to the activities at and around surface water sources, particularly rivers and streams. Recognizing the importance of "the Saco" as a drinking water resource, this EPA Healthy Communities Grant is an effort to evaluate potential contaminants and threats to drinking water within a one-mile buffer along the Maine portion of the river.