Susquehanna River Basin Commission – Water Withdraws – Fact Sheet Registration.

The Susquehanna River Basin Commission (Commission) is contacting you because you may have clients who are affected by a new program for registration of unapproved water withdrawals and consumptive water uses in the Basin.  We are seeking your assistance to help ensure that facility managers are aware of and complete registration by the deadline of December 31, 2019.

An initial contact letter and registration factsheet (GFregistration-grandfathered-water-withdraws-factsheet) was sent to more than 1,300 facilities by direct mail this week. The targeted grandfathered facilities/sources are those where water withdrawals or consumptive uses equal or exceed the regulatory thresholds, but began operating before the applicable regulations became effective. These water withdrawals and uses are generally considered to be exempt from obtaining a Commission docket, provided there has been no environmental harm and no changes are made at the facility.

[amazon_link asins=’0060548312′ template=’ProductAd’ store=’webdespro-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’d8e30f40-c0cc-11e7-a986-b782313bfb61′]

The Commission has initiated the registration effort after reviewing the results of our Cumulative Water Use and Availability Study that highlighted major gaps in the data the Commission needs in order to effectively manage the water resources of the Basin.  We estimated that there are possibly more than 700 older, unpermitted facilities with an estimated water use of nearly one billion gallons per day. If accurate, this volume of water use is roughly equal to the total amount currently accounted for, and managed, by the Commission across the entire Basin.

Informational webinars explaining the registration program will be conducted by Commission staff on November 14 and December 13, 2017. To register for a webinar, visit www.srbc.net/grandfathering-registration.

If you need additional information or assistance, visit the website or contact Commission staff at GFregistration@srbc.net.

Thank you,

Susquehanna River Basin Commission