DEP Invites Comments On Draft State Water Plan Update

The Department of Environmental Protection invites comments on a draft update to the State Water Plan which outlines recommendations for policy and legislative actions for each of the six water planning regions in the Commonwealth and statewide.  (formal notice)

The Plan update, required every five years by Act 220 of 2002, serves as a policy and guidance document providing information, objectives, priorities and recommendations to be considered in a broad range of state, local and private water resource decisions.

Another goal of the Plan update is to review and finalize Critical Area Resource Plans in the Potomac and Ohio regions that were left unfinished during the 2009 update.

DEP started working on the update to the State Water Plan in January 2020 with the first of a series of eight meetings of each regional water advisory committee, a hearing in each region in March and regular meetings of the Statewide Water Resources Committee.

Regional Priorities

Here are some of the regional water resource priorities identified in the draft Plan--

-- Delaware River

-- Conduct Integrated Water Resources Planning on a holistic watershed basis

-- Preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the quality, quantity, and

availability of clean, sustainable water supplies for the people, businesses, and ecological needs of the Commonwealth

-- Develop and distribute water resources information and data

-- Coordinate between local, state, and federal entities

-- Great Lakes

-- Take larger role in federal legislation and other measures that may impact Lake Erie and Lake Ontario

-- Have Northwestern Pennsylvania take larger role in state legislation impacting Lake Erie and Lake Ontario

-- Protect water quality throughout region’s watersheds by assessing biology, analyzing contaminants, evaluating impact of stormwater management, and following agricultural best management practices

-- Upper/Middle Susquehanna River

-- Protect Important Headwater Habitats, Enhance Recharge Areas, and Minimize Stormwater Runoff 

Focus on forested land use practices by minimizing large-scale forest cutting, preservation of forested ecosystem services, and reduction of sedimentation

-- Expand land use planning with county-wide action plans and integrated water resources management

-- Promote municipal ordinances in public water supply recharge areas

-- Implement statewide water well construction standards

-- Lower Susquehanna River

-- Identify and Target Solutions for Potential Protection Priority Water Resources to Reduce or Prevent Point and Nonpoint Source Pollution with a Focus on Currently Impaired Water Resources

-- Prioritize resiliency solutions to address increased stormwater runoff and flooding, including restoration and expansion of green infrastructure

-- Include proactive management of land development and land expansion

-- Provide support to local governments and municipalities through training and model ordinance development, and enlisting non-governmental

organizations, watershed groups and riverkeepers

-- Ohio River

-- Develop plans that evaluate impacts of resources extraction from the Marcellus Shale

-- Support holistic approaches to water quality, quantity, and availability

-- Prioritize natural systems, man-made infrastructure, and water treatment

-- Take initial step of inter-agency water resources planning through Act 167 stormwater planning

-- Develop plans that identify water resources needed to promote and facilitate economic development while maintaining watershed integrity and recreational benefits

-- Prioritize multi-municipal planning and funding projects, including best management practices that use integrated approaches to maximize pollution reduction and mitigate flooding

-- Address acid mine drainage, orphaned wells, inter-basin transfers,

agricultural activities, sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs), combined sewer overflows (CSOs), Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s), unsustainable forest management and larger-scale industrial water users

-- Develop plans that identify water resources needed to promote and facilitate economic development while maintaining watershed integrity and recreational benefits

-- Potomac River

-- Encourage municipal programs to collaborate and plan regionally, address land use planning, provide domestic water well construction standards, and implement best management practices

-- Promote stormwater management with use of riparian buffers, rain gardens and stream restoration

-- Identify protection priority water resources trending toward impairment.

For more information on regional water resource priorities, see page 11.

Click Here for more information on each of the regional committees and the Statewide Water Resources Committee.

Legislative Priorities

Among the statewide legislative priorities included in the Plan update are--

-- Secure sustainable funding of water resources programs

-- Establish drinking water well construction standards

-- Enact water resources restoration policies

-- Establish sustainable public and private stormwater management infrastructure

-- Enhance flood forecasting and warning systems

-- Enhance community preparedness and resiliency for flood events

-- Reduce livestock access to streams

For more, visit page 18.

Critical Water Planning Areas Act 220 of 2002 established a process to designate Critical Water Planning Areas (CWPAs) – areas where existing or future water demands exceed or threaten to exceed water availability.

After a process of screening and verification – with input from regional committees and recommendation from the statewide committee – four watersheds were officially designated CWPAs by the Secretary of DEP--

-- Marsh and Rock Creeks, Adams County (Potomac Region) 

The Marsh and Rock Creek watersheds have a combined drainage area of approximately 143 square miles. The watersheds were combined into one CWPA because the populated area surrounding the Borough of Gettysburg lies in both Marsh Creek and Rock Creek watersheds. 

The major water supplier in the Gettysburg area has groundwater withdrawal wells in both watersheds and a surface water withdrawal on Marsh Creek.

Water use information indicates potential water imbalances (higher net withdrawals than streamflow) under extreme low flow conditions. 

Water is withdrawn from Marsh and Rock Creeks by the Gettysburg Municipal Authority and discharged outside the watershed in Rock Creek. In Rock Creek, negative values were indicated in the upper third of the watershed, primarily driven by agricultural water withdrawal estimates and public water supply withdrawals.

-- Back Creek, Fayette County (Ohio Region)

Back Creek watershed has a drainage area of 11.4 square miles, located in Fayette County, and is a tributary of Indian Creek. This watershed was designated as a CWPA primarily due to the potential situations in which water demand exceeds supply. 

Three of the four negative values in the Indian Creek watershed occur in the Back Creek watershed, partly due to public supply withdrawals from groundwater sources totaling approximately 0.5 Mgal/d in 2003.

-- Laurel Hill Creek, Fayette and Somerset Counties (Ohio Region). 

Laurel Hill Creek is an approximately 125 square mile watershed located in Somerset and Fayette counties. The watershed is predominately undeveloped, with most of its area forested or within agricultural land use. Within the developed portions of the watershed are ski resorts and a quarry operation.

As of 2009, there were 32 dams in the Laurel Hill Creek watershed, including two with a conservation release and one with a minimum pass-by requirement. All reported and estimated withdrawals in the Laurel Hill Creek watershed were 2.27 Mgal/d in 2003. 

Nineteen of the 26 pour points in the watershed had negative SIP values, primarily due to water supply withdrawals exported outside the watershed.

Act 220 requires that for each designated CWPA the regional committee shall form a critical area advisory committee (CAAC) which assists in guiding the development of a CARP. 

DEP is responsible for drafting the CARP although the regional committee may recommend that DEP engage county or regional agencies or expert consulting firms to assist them.

For more information, see page 19 of the Plan update.  Read more here.

Climate Change Adaptation Strategies

The State Water Plan update contains an assessment of climate change adaptation strategies and makes recommendations for action priorities statewide and for each region (page 95).

Click Here for a copy of the draft State Water Plan update.

The deadline for comments is September 19, 2022.

Read the entire PA Bulletin notice for instructions on how to submit comments.

For more information, visit DEP’s State Water Plan webpage. Questions should be directed to James Horton at jahorton@pa.gov or (717) 772-1100.

Upcoming Meetings

Here’s a quick list of upcoming regional and statewide water resource committee meetings--

-- October 11--  In-Person/Virtual. DEP Delaware Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building.  9:00 a.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 375 123 839#  Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

-- October 12-- In-Person/Virtual. DEP Lower Susquehanna Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building.  9:00 a.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 242 093 309# Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

-- October 13-- In-Person/Virtual. DEP Potomac Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building.  1:00 p.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 317 555 91# Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

-- October 19-- DEP Statewide Water Resources Committee meeting.  Room 105 Rachel Carson Building. 9:00 a.m.  Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 435 616 231#.  Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov.  

-- October 25-- In-Person/Virtual. DEP Ohio Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building.  1:00 p.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 989 992 966#  Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

-- October 26- In-Person/Virtual. DEP Great Lakes Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building. 9:00 a.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 935 313 50#  Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

-- October 27-- In-Person/Virtual. DEP Upper/Middle Susquehanna Water Resources Regional Committee meeting. 16th Floor Delaware Room, Rachel Carson Building. 9:00 a.m. Microsoft Teams or 267-332-8737 Conference ID: 185 095 254#  Contact: James Horton, RA-Statewaterplan@pa.gov 

[Posted: August 19, 2022]  PA Environment Digest