Water Resources Bill Passes, Ending 20-Year Quest

On November 26, during the last week of the legislative session, the Pennsylvania House and Senate passed the Water Resources Planning Act ending a more than 20-year effort to adopt water resources legislation in Pennsylvania.

Although legislation to conduct water resources planning was brought to the legislature many times in the past, it failed to pass until now. In fact, it was the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) that began the early efforts to draft such legislation. PACD was instrumental more than 20 years ago in bringing water users, farmers and conservation interests together to begin discussions about how to plan for Pennsylvania's future water resource needs. Recently, the PACD was part of a broad-based coalition that helped to draft the current legislation and bring it to the attention of legislators.

"For three decades, Pennsylvania has relied on a water plan that provided little or no help in battling drought conditions," said Gov. Mark Schweiker. "By their overwhelming bi-partisan approval, members of the General Assembly have joined this Administration to ensure that Pennsylvania will no longer sit back and wait for the next drought to occur."

Overwhelming votes in the House - 140 to 56 - and the Senate - 43 to 6 - showed strong support from not only both parties, but from all parts of Pennsylvania. A coalition of conservation districts, local government, farm, watershed and business groups supported the legislation, marking the first time organizations like these worked together on a water resources bill.

The Act requires DEP to develop a new State Water Plan over the next five years working with both regional and statewide water resources committees whose membership includes environmental, conservation district, local government, technical and water user interests. The plan will help answer three basic questions: How much water do we have? How is the water being used? Where will the demand for water outstrip the supply?

"This legislation will allow the Commonwealth to measure how much water we're using and where water resources are in jeopardy. Those are tools we must have in order to protect one of our most important natural resources," said Gov. Schweiker. "I would like to thank Department of Environmental Protection Secretary David Hess for his leadership on this issue. I also want to commend Sen. Mary Jo White (R-Clarion), Rep. Art Hershey (R-Lancaster), Sen. Raphael Musto (D-Luzerne), Sen. Roger Madigan (R-Lycoming) and Rep. Kate Harper (R-Lancaster) for their leadership, as well as all members of the General Assembly who voted in favor of this long overdue legislation."

"A broad coalition of groups representing the environment, government and business came together from all four corners of the Commonwealth to accomplish something that people have tried to do for more than 20 years," said Hess. "I want to thank all the legislators, individuals and groups, and DEP staff who made this historic event possible."

Also joining in the effort to pass the legislation were former state senators Jeanette Reibman (D-Northampton), Roy Afflerbach (D-Berks), William Lincoln (D-Somerset), Roy Wilt (R-Mercer) and Tim Shaffer (R-Butler) who all sponsored water resources legislation over the last 20 years.
The Act, contained in House Bill 2302, specifically preserves the existing authority of DEP and local governments to regulate water resources and protects DEP's ability to control water pollution under the Clean Streams Law.