Advisory Committee Meeting April 11th

The next advisory committee meeting for the Marsh and Rock watersheds Critical Area Resource Plan will be Wednesday, April 11th from 1-3pm at the Ag Center in Gettysburg (670 Old Harrisburg Rd).  The purpose of the meeting is to discuss prioritization and implementation of the CARP management recommendations.  A draft meeting agenda is available for download.  A new draft technical report on the development of CARP management recommendations is also available for review and will be discussed at the upcoming meeting.

See you Wednesday!

March Groundwater Level Monitoring

The most recent round of groundwater level monitoring took place in the Marsh and Rock creek watersheds on March 21st.  The complete history of measurements at each well is available through USGS.  By clicking on the Site ID for a particular monitoring well, additional information on the site and the history of data collection at that site can be viewed. 

Trends in groundwater levels in the Marsh and Rock creek watersheds vary geographically.  Over the last couple of months, some wells show increasing trends, some levels are decreasing, and others fluctuate month to month (see monthly groundwater levels since September 2011 from three wells below - the horizontal axis on these plots is time, the vertical axis is groundwater level).  To see how the groundwater levels are changing near you, explore the data via the USGS website.

Potential Water Conflicts

Because the Critical Water Planning Area has limited water supplies under certain conditions and competing water uses, by definition there are likely water conflicts in the watersheds.  One component of the Critical Area Resource Plan will be an identification of the potential water conflicts. 

A list of potential conflicts that have been discussed at previous Critical Area Advisory Committee meetings is provided below.  Feedback (including suggestions for modifications, additions, and removals) is most welcome!

• Increasing water availability for current and future water needs vs Increasing water availability drives population growth;
• Water availability for human use vs Water availability for ecosystem use;
• Managing by jurisdiction vs Collaborative management of water across jurisdictions;
• Stormwater as a nuisance vs Stormwater as a resource;
• Registration of water withdrawals helps manage water resources to ensure long-term availability vs Registration of water withdrawals is a way to try to regulate individual water uses;
• Regulations at local and state level vs Management necessary at the watershed level;
• Limited water availability during summer when uses are greatest vs Increased water availability in winter during lowest usage; and
• Wastewater effluent as a flow stabilizer/enhancer vs A source of nutrients and other pollutants.

February Workshop Follow-Up

Thanks to all who attended the workshop on February 15th to evaluate and prioritize management alternatives under consideration for the Marsh/Rock CARP!  The draft meeting minutes are now available for download. 

The workshop included two major sections.  In the morning, an initial screening process was conducted.  This process labeled each management alternative as either a Yes, No, or Maybe.  Yes indicated that a management alternative is feasible and/or implementation of the practice is already underway.  No indicated that the practice is not feasible and additional discussion is not necessary.  Alternatives not considered Yes or No were designated as Maybe.  The remainder of the workshop focused on scoring the Maybes in terms of feasibility using 6 pillars; namely, information, funding, policies, institutions, stakeholders, and timeframe. 

For each Maybe management alternative, the score by pillar and notes on each pillar is presented here.  Definitions for the numeric score criteria are available here.  A revised management alternatives spreadsheet is also available.  It contains a description of each management alternative, the total feasibility score, and discussion notes.

The next Critical Area Advisory Committee meeting will be held on April 11th from 1-3pm at the Ag Center.  This meeting will include a discussion of the workshop results.  Your feedback is encouraged.

National Groundwater Awareness Week

March 11-17 is National Groundwater Awareness Week.  The purpose of this week is to educate the public about the importance of groundwater and water well stewardship.  To find out more and to get involved, visit the National Ground Water Association's website.

Monthly Groundwater Monitoring

On Feb 14th, we collected another round of monthly depth to water measurements. One thing I noticed this month was that the depth to water measurement was a larger number compared to January. This means that the groundwater level has dropped. Typically, the groundwater doesn't drop continuously until April when the plants begin to grow and less water is available for recharge. However, we are still above the typical groundwater level for this time of year.

If you check NOAA's precipation site for Adams County, you will notice that we are 1.4 inches of precipation behind normal for the past 30 days. We also have been behind normal for the past 90 days.

Deviation from normal rain fall for Adams County can be found at www.erh.noaa.gov/marfc/Maps/barcharts/Adams.PA.html

February 15th Workshop Prep

Please make plans to attend the upcoming Critical Area Advisory Committee workshop which will be held on February 15th from 9am-3pm at the Agriculture and Natural Resources Center in Gettysburg (670 Old Harrisburg Rd).  Lunch will be provided.

The purpose of the workshop is to evaluate and prioritize management alternatives that were compiled at the January advisory committee meeting.  The workshop will be an application of the ILBM methodology, discussed during previous advisory committee meetings (for more information on ILBM, see the blog post by Beverly Saunders from 12/20/11). 

The draft agenda and the list of management alternatives that will be evaluated are now available for download.  If you have ideas for additional management alternatives that are not currently on the list, please submit them by February 10th via email (marshrockpa@gmail.com); phone (301.274.8116); or mail (ICPRB, 51 Monroe St. PE-08, Rockville, MD 20850). 

See you on February 15th!