The water crisis affecting Westminster and much of Carroll County goes beyond the concerns of pumping water from well to tap and could drastically alter growth plans in the county for decades to come, according to local officials and water experts.
To brainstorm solutions to water deficits and the new state requirement that a water system meet its demand during the worst droughts on record, officials from Carroll's eight municipalities will gather for a countywide water summit Feb. 3.
If the Maryland Department of the Environment continues to enforce water restrictions in those municipalities, that could undermine overall county efforts to contain sprawl, said Jesse Richardson Jr., an expert in water-rights law at Virginia Tech.
"It can really create dumb growth in Carroll County, if the towns, where they want to focus development can't issue any more building permits," said Richardson, who is invited to speak at the summit. "It seems like the Smart Growth and groundwater policies are at odds with each other."
The issue has become particularly dire in Carroll and Frederick counties since both mostly depend on groundwater wells, said Richardson, who recently toured Carroll's major water sources.
To resolve the water deficit that has shut down new development in Westminster, city officials drafted an agreement to jumpstart that process with the state environmental department.
At the same time, Mount Airy's water commission is expected to recommend tomorrow night that a growth moratorium be re-instituted in the town, municipal officials said.
The environmental department stopped the signing of building permits in Westminster in late September when it determined the city could face up to a 900,000 gallon per day water deficit during droughts.
City Administrator Marge Wolf hopes an agreement will be hammered out with the state in the next few months. But getting new water sources tested and outfitted for treatment could take years, she said.
"It is a big puzzle with a lot of different pieces," Wolf said. "It will come together, but it won't be today."
Westminster officials said they have discussed with county officials plans by the city to build a pipeline to Big Pipe Creek in Union Mills. But that plan could hinder the county's long-term goal to build a Union Mills reservoir, Westminster Mayor Thomas K. Ferguson said.
Ferguson said the city would need space to store water from the pipeline, while the creek could prove an unstable source.
