ohn Daher, the township supervisor for Lansing Township, admits he didn't know anything about groundwater when he became the hands-on manager for this community of 8,900 residents in central Michigan.

"I took everything for granted, our drinking water and our good groundwater," said Daher.

Now, he's a groundwater guardian, counseling business on how to avoid possible contamination of groundwater and pushing through new sewers for one township neighborhood which sends all its wastewater untreated through a storm drain into the Grand River.

"When I became a township supervisor, I didn't know what groundwater management was. I didn't even have a clue," said Daher.

Now, he talks to residents, business owners and developers about the importance of catch basins, which detain rain and water runoff from industrial and business sites long enough to let heavy metals and toxic sediments settle out, rather than flow into sewers and drains.

And he participates in a unique collaboration between his community and 13 of its neighbors in Eaton, Ingham and Clinton Counties to safeguard the groundwater -- and thus the drinking water -- in the Lansing region, one of the state's largest areas dependent on groundwater wells for its tap water.

Lansing Township is a partner in the Lansing Area Groundwater Management Board, a national model of the ways local governments can protect groundwater -- and do it economically and efficiently.

The Groundwater Management Board brings together the communities of Lansing, East Lansing, DeWitt, and Dimondale, and the townships of Meridian, Allaiedon, Delhi, Windsor, Delta, Watertown, Bath, as well as Lansing Township and DeWitt Township, to collectively plan for groundwater protection.

Their collaboration is one example of how government -- at all levels -- strives to protect our natural resources and our drinking water. Grant money from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has funded the Groundwater Education in Michigan (GEM) project, which helped educate local officials like the Lansing Township supervisor about the importance of safeguarding our groundwater.

Every facet of government can impact the quality of our drinking water. The federal government sets standards through legislation such as the Safe Drinking Water Act, for example. The State of Michigan seeks to protect groundwater and drinking water in efforts through several state departments and agencies.

Lansing Township is among the 100 communities throughout Michigan that participate in a voluntary State of Michigan program to protect municipal groundwater supplies. It's called the Wellhead Protection Program and is designed to safeguard drinking water supplies by protecting the area that contributes groundwater to public water wells.

The State's Wellhead Protection Program provides technical support and shows how communities can do an inventory of potential sources of groundwater contamination. For example, above-ground tanks can have a secondary containment basin to contain spills. Underground tanks of hazardous materials can be replaced by safer designs. Some communities inspect industries and businesses, seeking to cap old floor drains that can send toxic solvents into groundwater supplies below.

The member communities of the Lansing Area Groundwater Management Board sit atop what's geologically termed the Saginaw Formation, a layer of sandstone aquifer 300 to 400 feet under ground that holds groundwater like a sponge. Tapwater flows from hundreds of public wells and thousands of private wells throughout Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties.

Throughout the communities, the locations of groundwater aquifers have been analyzed in a process called a delineation study. Each community is studying how groundwater wells can be protected through zoning ordinances, which may limit development in certain sensitive areas. Ordinances regulating hazardous waste disposal in their communities can help prevent contaminants from ending up in improper dumps, landfills or simply spilled into a vacant lot.

By banding together, these communities save money, and save time in the crusade to keep water clean for their residents.

When Delta Township needed more water supplies for its growing population, the City of Lansing, which has lost residents, sold water to the township. That saved Delta Township the expense of establishing its own water delivery system and provided Lansing with a ready market for its system's excess capacity.

The communities of the Lansing Area Groundwater Management Board also funded a study and computer model of the groundwater reserves. The model served as a basis for member communities to devise -- at a cost savings to all -- emergency plans in the event of contamination.

What John Daher has learned about groundwater benefits every resident in Lansing Township, insuring them safe drinking water now and into the future. "Local governments, as well as our citizens, have a duty to protect our groundwater."