Published: June 03, 2009 12:01 am      

Laurel Hill Creek: Demands for water come under scrutiny

BAKERSVILLE — In the hills of western Somerset County, Laurel Hill Creek is more than a popular fishing spot: It’s also an important and heavily used water source.

Now, officials are investigating whether competing demands for that water could eventually slow Laurel Hill Creek to a trickle.

During the coming year, the state Department of Environmental Protection will determine whether Laurel Hill watershed deserves a “critical” label that would guide future decisions on how much of its water can be consumed.

And state regulators also are taking a close look at three applications to tap into the Laurel Hill watershed, including a controversial request from a bottled-water company.

“We’ve been very sensitive to that issue,” said Deborah McDonald, a DEP water-supply official based in Pittsburgh.

For decades, the most prominent water problem in this area has been pollution, largely due to drainage from abandoned mines.

But in Laurel Hill Creek, the primary issue seems to be water quantity, not quality.

“We definitely have concerns about it,” said Emil Svetahor, a Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission regional manager based in Somerset.

“In the summertime, I’ve seen parts of it where you can walk across the creek and not get wet.”

The dilemma has attracted attention from far beyond the watershed’s borders.

In April, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit called American Rivers named Laurel Hill Creek one of the nation’s 10 most-endangered rivers.

The group warned of “irreparable harm” due to excessive water withdrawal.

The problem may qualify Laurel Hill Creek for a sort of protective status, DEP officials disclosed Tuesday during an interview at The Tribune-Democrat.

As part of an update of the state’s water plan, Laurel Hill has been nominated as one of 32 potential “critical water planning areas” in Pennsylvania.

The process is lengthy and complex, but it boils down to this: Regional and statewide committees will determine whether that label is necessary, with a final decision to be made by DEP.

If Laurel Hill is dubbed “critical,” then a plan will be formulated to help guide future water use.

John Hines, DEP’s deputy secretary for water management, said the process has been designed to include representatives from all interest groups “so we don’t go to one extreme or the other.”

The goal, Hines said, is to “balance out the competing uses in this particular watershed and come up with collective solutions to move this forward.”

The question, though, is how much real-world impact such a process would have. Hines acknowledged that the watershed label and resulting water-usage plan is “nonregulatory,” meaning it is not law.

But he contends that the plan is important because it could be used when DEP considers future requests for Laurel Hill water.

“Our task is to get better data and make better use of that data so that, in turn, better decisions are made,” Hines said.

The planning process, however, would not be complete in time to affect three Laurel Hill permits that DEP is considering.

Two are basically renewals: Somerset Borough and Seven Springs Mountain Resort want to continue using the watershed’s resources.

Those have not attracted the kind of attention that has been directed at a third permit application: A company called Cooper Springs wants to draw 108,000 gallons daily from a well for a bottled-water operation.

Some residents and river activists have objected, and DEP officials say they’re aware of those concerns. A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. June 22 at Bakersville fire hall, 2341 West Bakersville-Edie Road.

“We’re looking very closely at that permit application to determine whether or not this groundwater withdrawal will somehow impact the surface water in Laurel Hill Creek,” McDonald said.

She added that DEP also will consider the Cooper Springs proposal’s potential impact on private wells in the area.