Agriculture Services Coordinator
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lXtY>L| Lancaster
MvCi Chamber
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Phone (717)397-3531 ext 62
E-mail blandis@lcci com
WATER LEGISLATION
AND AGRICULTURE
Many of us may have viewed
water as something with an unlimit
ed supply, something we all take for
granted. But, in the past six years, we
have faced four years with a drought
situation in Pennsylvania.
Currently, 24 counties in south
eastern Pennsylvania are in a
Irought emergency. We are starting
0 look at water as something that is
1 limited resource something we
leed to plan and protect for the fu
ure.
During the past few years, legisla
ion on the issue has focused on
.vater quality rather than quantity.
This is now changing because of the
:ircumstances we are facing. Our
>tate water plan has not been revised
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since 1975. Many organizations and
businesses are voicing their concerns
and recommendations on this issue.
It is important that agriculture
weighs in on this planning, since esti
mates indicate agriculture makes up
20 percent of total consumptive
water use in the Susquehanna River
Basin.
A critical area to keep at the fore
front on future planning is the vol
ume of groundwater recharge our
farmland provides through rainwater
infiltration. Simply put, an average
size dairy farm with 60 cows on 85
acres provides more than 30 million
gallons of net contribution to ground
water. This takes into account all
water consumed on the farm. Anoth
er interesting statistic is that one acre
of farmland collects enough rainwat-
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Looking at current regulations in
place regarding water use, the follow
ing items impact agriculture to some
degree. In 1995, the Susquehanna
River Basin Commission (SRBC)
adopted a regulation that requires all
surface and groundwater withdraw
als of more than 10,000 gallons per
day be registered. Estimates indicate
only 25 percent of the farms that ex
ceed this level of withdraw have reg
istered their water use.
You might ask yourself, why
would I want to register my water
use? The answer is simple you are
documenting your daily needs, which
puts you in a stronger legal position
should conflict occur. When one of
your neighbors wants to withdraw a
new large daily amount of water, he
or she must register with the SRBC
before doing so. The SRBC reviews
the potential impacts of the new
water withdraw to all current water
withdrawals registered within the
area.
Another potential impact on larger
farms is a requirement to address
water consumption. This regulation
temporarily excludes agricultural
uses, but it is something to keep in
mind for the future as these regula
tions change. The regulation
states that operations which
consumptively use more than
20,000 gallons per day are re
quired to compensate for their
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use during critical low flows by utiliz
ing one of three options: 1. Suspend
ing use during low flows. 2. Releas
ing stored water upstream or
utilizing water stored on-site during
low flows. 3. Paying the SRBC a con
sumptive use fee $.14 per 1,000 gal
lons) for water used consumptively.
This fee would be used to develop
and store water during critical low
flows. These options obviously would
create an economic burden to farms,
thus the reason to be temporarily
suspended. Currently the Agriculture
Water Use Advisory Committee is
carefully exploring options for agri
culture operations.
There are several pieces of legisla
tion being considered in Pennsylva
nia, with one of the more important
bills being House Bill 2230. This bill
is in the House Committee on Envi
ronmental Resources and Energy
and would require the Department of
Environmental Protection (DEP) to
revise the state’s water plan over the
next three years and require the plan
to be updated every five years. This
bill would also establish a 25-person
Statewide Water Resource? Advisory
Committee to help develop state
water policies, require users of water
exceeding 10,000 gallons per day to
register and report their annual
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water use, and begin to determine
areas in Pennsylvania where water
demand exceeds supply so a “water
budget” can be established.
Registration of water use for agri
culture should be a reasonable pro
cess for a farmer to go through with
limited burdens on registration fees,
monitoring, and reporting require
ments. Water use planning needs to
take into consideration the recharge
aspect that farmland provides and
offer water credits based on criteria
set. Another recommendation would
be to have appropriate representa
tion from agriculture on water plan
ning boards. And lastly, it is impor
tant to address the costs surrounding
the plugging of abandoned water
wells with grant monies.
Now is the time to weigh in on
proposed water regulations. There is
an upcoming Rally Day for Agricul
ture sponsored by PennAg Indus
tries, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau,
and Pennsylvania State Grange on
Monday, April 8 from B p.m. to 5:30
p.m. at the State Capitol Rotunda.
For more information on water legis
lation or the Rally Day for Agricul
ture, contact Brent Landis at the
Chamber at (717) 397-3531, ext. 134
or blandis@lcci.com.
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