Farmers 9 water rights in jeopardy
By DIETER KRIEG
LANCASTER - If Penn
sylvania farmers don’t make
their water requirements
known soon to the Depart
ment of Environmental
Resources, they could be left
out of die state’s water
resource plans, says
Agriculture Secretary Kent
Shelhamer.
The Susquehanna River
Basin Commission is
currently drawing up plans
for water use in Penn
sylvania in order to assure
that future water
requirements can be met.
Crediting the Commission
with having good intentions,
Shelhamer nonetheless
exclaimed that they are good
men with well-meaning
plans who don’t know what
they’re d.oing. The
agriculture chiefs primary
concern is that the farmer
not be ignored or mistreated
in the water resource plans.
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John McSparran
As far as Shelhamer is
concerned, the farmer’s
rights stand in jeopardy if
something isn’t done soon.
To illustrate his concern, he
noted that the Commission
will limit consumptive water
use on any size farm to 20,000
gallons per day during
drought periods. Shelhamer
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leaves no doubt that he isn’t
satisfied, saying that it’s
during drought periods that
extra water is needed to
irrigate crops. His Depart
ment is looking into the
matter, but he’s also urging
farmers to become involved
in a letter writing campaign.
The meeting Shelhamer
and about 60 others attended
last Wednesday specifically
concerned irrigation water
needs in the Susquehanna
watershed. Other areas of
water use on the farm were
also brought to light,
however. The 20,000 gallon
per farm limit, includes
water for such uses as
livestock watering.
Shelhamer isn’t convinced
that such uses are being
treated fairly by the SRBC,
which is an arm of the
Department of En
vironmental Resources.
John McSparran, who
heads the water resource
Kent Shelhamer
planning for DER, isn’t as
concerned about the issue as
js Shelhamer. Taking the
podium after Shelhamer had
left, McSparran assured the
group that DER and SRBC
were interested in keeping
the farmers’ water needs in
mind. To back up his claim,
he encouraged every farmer
too. add up to more dairy income
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 11,1978
to send a statement to the
SRBC explaining their water
needs.
Technically, DER already
has a regulation in the books
which could enforce the
20,000 gallon per farm limit
during a dry spell. A farmer
who would need more water
than that per day is required
to have a permit, said Mc-
Sparran, a former Lancaster
Countian. Presently, not a
single Lancaster County
farmer has a permit.
McSparran pointed out
that the water limitation
doesn’t go into effect unless
water flow in the
Susquehanna and its
tributaries reaches 10-year
low levels. This point is what
has Shelhamer most con
cerned. He notes that it is
during such times that crops
are in most need ,of
irrigation. If they can’t be
irrigated during such stress
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0k
periods, then the entire crop
could be lost.
McSparran and
Shelhamer both agree that
water usage will rise
significantly in years to
come. Both also agree that
some sort of regulations
must be established in order
to assure that all segments
of society can be supplied
with adequate water.
“We cannot survive in
agriculture without
adequate water,”
Shelhamer exclaimed. The
Susquehanna River Basin
Commission’s regulations
could have a very harmful
effect on Pennsylvania
agriculture,” he em
phasized.
The agriculture secretary
noted that in an earlier case
involving farmers, DER set
up erosion and sedimen
tation regulations without
(Turn to Page 31)
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