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PA OFFICIAL: TIME IS
RIGHT TO MAKE A WATER PLAN
Pennsylvania’s top
environmental official says the political climate may be right for the
state to tackle its first comprehensive water plan.
James Seif, secretary of
the Department of Environmental Protection, said such a plan is the next
logical step to manage growth.
He said his agency is
concerned about a host of problems relating to water unsafe dams, dams
with possibly contaminated silt trapped behind them, floods, drought and
especially, water allocation.
Pennsylvania is the only
state in the region without a plan governing water allocations from
streams and rivers or underground withdrawals. Permits for projects are
reviewed by the DEP, but the Delaware River Basin Commission, an
interstate water regulatory agency actually issues them.
In New Jersey, Gov.
Whitman announced plans to re-open discussion of a controversial proposal
for water-quality management rules.
Those proposed rules,
which aim to curb sprawl and protect water resources, have met strong
public criticism since their release in July. Whitman’s new proposal
would bring legislators, environmentalists, builders and other
"stakeholders" together to strengthen and simplify rules to
protect the state’s 6,450 miles of waterways.
While Pennsylvania has
laws to protect its high-quality streams, they are often haphazardly
applied, frustrating the state’s environmentalists.
(Philadelphia Inquirer,
10/23/00) | 
