BERLIN POND SOURCE PROTECTION PLAN
MONTPELIER, VERMONT

Screenshot of Montpelier's GIS data.

In June 2000 Montpelier, the capital city of Vermont, completed construction of a rapid sand filtration facility to treat the Berlin Pond source of supply. Dufresne Group has developed a Source Protection Plan for the treatment works. The Montpelier Source Protection Plan was complicated by the characteristics of the Berlin Pond drainage area and the extent of local records. Although a survey of property owners, land uses and existing city records were helpful in preparing a database for the Source Protection Plan, the full benefits of the database would not have been realized without linking the information to a Geographical Information System (GIS) for the source protection area.

Queries of the GIS project information were used to categorize land uses and prepare summary information for the Source Protection Plan document. The project was further enhanced by including city records for on-site wastewater disposal systems surrounding Berlin Pond. The information now included in the GIS and associated computer database allows multiple users to access information and knowledge previously held by a few individuals and provides an economical solution to the historically manual and time consuming tasks of maintaining and updating records.

KEY FEATURES

• First implementation of GIS technology for a Vermont source protection plan.
• Organized, searchable database of land uses and characteristics.
• Identification of potential sources of contamination.
• Dynamic tool for inventorying and managing potential contaminant sources