250 active public water systems in Louisiana had a Groundwater Rule (GWR) violation in the past three years, 250 of them in the latest quarter of EPA's data. What Groundwater Rule (GWR) is and why it matters.
Health effects: Protects against enteric viruses, which can contaminate groundwater via cracked well casings, failing septic systems, or animal waste. Viruses persist longer in groundwater than in surface water. Hepatitis A and norovirus are the primary pathogens of concern.
A system is counted once if any of its violations in the past three years involved Groundwater Rule (GWR), including monitoring and reporting lapses. Rules violated and status in the table are for the whole system, not Groundwater Rule (GWR) alone.
Source: the U.S. EPA's Enforcement and Compliance History Online system (ECHO), which publishes the federal Safe Drinking Water Information System. EPA's terms and values are shown as published. The Louisiana records are from EPA's data refresh of Oct 7, 2026; EPA refreshes this data quarterly, and states report to EPA with a lag of three to six months, so the newest violations may not appear yet.
Compliant
Compliant
No violations reported to EPA in the past three years.
At least one violation on record with EPA in the past three years. Many are monitoring or reporting lapses rather than contamination; the system page lists which rules were involved and whether each is still open.
EPA's designation, also called an enforcement priority, for a system with unresolved serious, multiple, or continuing violations. EPA expects the system and its state to act quickly to resolve them.
At least one open health-based violation: an exceedance of a maximum contaminant level or residual disinfectant level, or a treatment technique violation. Monitoring and reporting lapses do not raise this flag.