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.
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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
Susquehanna River Basin Commission Study Finds No Impacts on Streams from Marcellus Shale Drilling
SRBC Study Finds No Impacts on Streams from Marcellus Shale Drilling
From 2010 to 2013 the Susquehanna River Basin Commission (SRBC) monitored 58 sampling stations in small headwater streams in the Susquehanna River Basin to investigate potential impacts from gas exploration in the Marcellus Shale. The study recorded pH, temperature, conductivity, inorganic chemistry, TOC, gross alpha and beta radiation, and macroinvertebrates. The SRBC report, released earlier this year, concluded no discernible relationship between water quality and well pad density. Please click HERE to download an electronic copy of the report.
New Tools and Courses
Know Your H20Keystone Clean Water Team
Citizen Scientists – The Online Water Quality Index Calculator is Available.
Training Courses on Natural Gas Development and Environmental Concerns
Stream Restoration, Wetlands, and Water Resources Management
Actions:
- If you have any testing done as part of this action, please consider releasing this data to the Citizen Groundwater and Surface Water Database. Fill out the attached form and mail the data to the following address:
Mr. Brian Oram, PG
Keystone Clean Water Team
15 Hillcrest Drive
Dallas, PA 18612
Please note- if you have baseline testing done already you may have some information on the level of surfactants in the water if you had a MBAS test done. - Informational Screening Testing – Get your water screened for water contamination including isopropanol – Informational Screening Water Kit (Not Certified) Covers about 200 parameters, plus a review of any predrilling data – Only $ 275.00. Email
- Drinking Water Guide for Pennsylvania.
Susquehanna River Basin Commission faces difficult balancing act
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/05/susquehanna_river_basin_commis.html
Published: Sunday, May 22, 2011, 4:00 AM
By Patriot-News Op-Ed
While news that a modern-day gold rush is in full bloom this spring in the natural gas-rich Marcellus Shale region would surprise only a hermit, the question remains: Is hydraulic fracturing — a method of extracting natural gas from the shale — turning into yet another rape of the landscape?
Are Pennsylvania’s environmental guardians up to the task or, as some critics claim, are they just a hapless 21st-century band of Keystone Kops?
I believe the Susquehanna River Basin Commission is tackling the issue head-on. Its executive director through nearly half the agency’s 40-year history, Paul O. Swartz, and regulators are protecting our water resources, striking a reasonable balance between environmental needs and the state’s booming natural gas industry.
Just last week the SRBC came out strongly against some findings in a report by American Rivers, a national environmental group. The commission disagrees, for many reasons, with American Rivers’ call for the commission to impose a moratorium on water withdrawals and use approvals for gas drilling. SRBC believes the state’s regulatory improvements, including well casing, impoundments and other safety standards, will adequately protect water quality and their use and enjoyment by the 4 million-plus residents of the river basin.
“Accidents can still happen,” Swartz allows, “but the improvements are intended to make the industry abide by a higher standard.”
Read more