CIRCLE OF BLUE
By Brett Walton
In yet another sign that securing adequate water supplies is a political imperative in the eastern United States, West Virginia officials have threatened legal action against Maryland over the Potomac River.
On November 2, Patrick Morrisey, the West Virginia attorney general, sent a letter to Brian Frosh, the Maryland attorney general, and Ben Grumbles, the Maryland environment secretary. The letter outlined concerns about Maryland’s longstanding command over water withdrawals from the Potomac, a river that traces 80 percent of the border between the two states.
Unless Maryland agrees in the next two weeks to negotiate a water-sharing deal, Morrisey said that he would file a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court challenging Maryland’s control over water permitting decisions. The high court has jurisdiction over interstate river disputes.
West Virginia anticipates an increase in water demand in Berkeley County, located in the eastern panhandle and abutting the Potomac. The construction of a Proctor and Gamble manufacturing facility, expected to open in 2017, will lift demand by 1.3 million gallons per day. Add the household needs of the plant’s 700 workers and a host of new office buildings, restaurants, and hotels near the development, and Berkeley County’s total water demand will rise from four million gallons per day to six million within two years, the attorney general’s letter asserts. The Maryland Department of the Environment rejected the county’s request to withdraw more water from the Potomac.
Learn more about the dispute and further actions on the Circle of Blue website.