ABSTRACT
In January 2014, a chemical spill along the Elk River just upstream of a public surface water intake in Charleston, West Virginia made water unsafe for contact for over 300,000 people in nine counties. The environmental, social, and economic impacts are still being felt today. In response to this spill, the state now requires the delineation of zones of critical concern upstream of each surface water intake in WV. The zones are defined as a five-hour time of travel upstream of each surface water intake in the state. For each ZCC, the mainstem of the upstream distance is buffered 1000 feet with all tributaries within the five-hour time buffered 500 feet. A Geographic Information System was used to map the location of each intake and model the upstream water flow that reaches the intake in the five-hour timeframe. We used an equation to estimate the time of travel with inputs of drainage area, average stream flow, event stream flow, and stream slope. The result was a time of travel grid for all stream segments in West Virginia, which allowed us to create ZCCs for all of the 175 surface water intakes in the state. The approach has helped to protect the intakes from potential future spills by requiring each tank within the zones to be inspected and registered with the state.
