Draw Water

When a regional water-use review panel meets next month in Cecil County, the group is to receive a progress update on Aberdeen's request to draw water from Deer Creek, a scenic river flowing through northern Harford County. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is a multistate agency that approves water uses affecting the river, which runs from New York through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and it must give final approval to any permit for withdrawing water from the river or its tributaries.

As persistent dry conditions have led several Carroll County municipalities to enact voluntary water restrictions, Mount Airy could go one step further to temporarily ban the use of outdoor sprinklers as soon as this week, Mayor Frank Johnson said. Mount Airy officials recently unveiled a tiered system for phasing in possible water restrictions that could last until Sept. 15 and delay new water and sewer connections from being established before that date, Johnson said. "Usage is inching up as the drought continues," Johnson said.

Call it the Big Water Switch.Harford County residents became the first in the Baltimore area yesterday to draw water from the Susquehanna River and slow the draining of the region's drought-depleted reservoirs.As most Harford residents slumbered Friday night, workers at the county's Abingdon Filtration Plant slowly cranked a valve closed, shutting the flow of water from Baltimore."We came out of it with flying colors, and we're in better condition now after the 10-hour shutdown," said Talad Said, plant superintendent.

When a regional water-use review panel meets next month in Cecil County, the group is to receive a progress update on Aberdeen's request to draw water from Deer Creek, a scenic river flowing through northern Harford County. The Susquehanna River Basin Commission is a multistate agency that approves water uses affecting the river, which runs from New York through Pennsylvania and Maryland, and it must give final approval to any permit for withdrawing water from the river or its tributaries.

Westminster's Department of Public Works is having its annual fire hydrant flushing from 8 p.m. to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.Affected areas are: Airport Drive, Magna Way, Tech Court, Wyndtryst Drive, Dunrovin Avenue, College View Boulevard and Glen Drive.Flushing will cause discoloration of water, and residents should not do laundry the next day. Faucets should be opened first thing in the morning and allowed to run until water is clear.Residents should draw water the night before for the next morning.

Anne Arundel County residents are using water at record rates, but the county Department of Utilities doesn't plan to restrict usage any time soon.Department spokeswoman Jody Vollmar said water usage has risen steadily since a drought began last month.In May, 1.16 inches of rain fell at BWI Airport, said Ken Shaver,a forecaster for the National Weather Service. Normal rainfall for the month is 3.44 inches, he said.So far this month, the weather service has recorded .31 inches of rain, Shaver said.

Mayor W. Benjamin Brown again pleaded with city residents Friday to conserve water because of the drought.Residents seem to have not heeded the City Council's request two weeks ago to stop water usage outside, Brown said."

Here are some tips from the Maryland Department of Agriculture for keeping your tree in good shape through the holiday season:* Keep it wrapped and bundled as you take it home from the tree farm.* Since the warm air inside your house can dry out the needles, store tree outside in a bucket of water and sand until you're ready to decorate it.* Place the tree in a cool room, away from heat vents and radiators.* Always cut off an inch from the bottom of the tree so it can draw water -- sap may have covered the bark when you cut down the tree.

The Westminster Department of Public Works will conduct its annual flushing of fire hydrants from 8 p.m. to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.Areas that will be affected are Carroll Meadows, Eden Farms and Devlin Square, Sullivan Heights, Hahn Road, Cranberry Road, Cranberry Mall and Cranberry Square.Flushing will cause some discoloration of water, and residents should not do laundry the next day. Faucets should be opened first thing in the morning and allowed to run until water is clear.

Carroll County has found three new wells and is looking for three more to ease the water woes that have troubled South Carroll, particularly during hot, dry summers.Three wells have been drilled on the Springfield Hospital Center property along Route 32. The wells can yield 500,000 gallons per day, but another half-million-gallon capacity is necessary to supplement the current system and prevent seasonal water shortages in the Freedom District, the county's most populous dTC area with about 27,000 residents.

WASHINGTON - The battle for control of the Potomac River reached the U.S. Supreme Court yesterday, with Maryland arguing that documents dating to the early 17th century give it both ownership and authority to prohibit Virginia from taking water or building structures out from its shoreline. "The government that gets to regulate is the government that owns it," said Andrew H. Baida, Maryland's former solicitor general, who argued the case on behalf of the state. "That ownership gives Maryland the right to regulate the withdrawal of water from Maryland."

The writer-director of the movie Hairspray and dozens of former Buddy Deane Committee dancers attended a memorial service yesterday afternoon for Winston Joe "Buddy" Deane, whose rock 'n' roll television dance program inspired the musical and marked an era for a generation of Baltimore teen-agers. John Waters, whose 1988 film inspired this year's Tony Award-winning Broadway musical, was one of the friends, relatives and former co-workers who eulogized the city legend yesterday at Grace United Methodist Church.

Having pulled the plug on the proposed water treatment plant at Piney Run Reservoir while signaling their intention to sign a deal to protect land near Liberty Reservoir, county officials received assurances yesterday that they will be able to move ahead on two key elements of a plan to provide water for South Carroll. State officials said that they would allow the county to tap wells at Springfield Hospital Center in Sykesville - an offer that the previous board of commissioners rebuffed in its rush to draw water from Piney Run Reservoir.

Baltimore's water managers shut down yesterday the Susquehanna River pumps that have supplemented the city's drought-depleted reservoirs for the past 10 months. The decision came after Loch Raven Reservoir exceeded 94 percent of capacity - above the 90 percent norm for November. The Susquehanna was tapped in January when Baltimore's dwindling reservoirs hit 61 percent of capacity. Residents have since consumed 30.1 billion gallons of river water - a volume equal to 1 1/2 times all the water in Loch Raven when it is full.

Maryland has lost another round in its battle with Virginia over control of the Potomac River, as an independent arbiter ruled that rapidly growing Fairfax County is entitled to draw drinking water from the middle of the river separating the two states. The decision, released yesterday, represents a setback for the Glendening administration, which has balked for nearly three years at approving the project sought by the Fairfax County Water Authority, pointing to potential environmental harm to the river.

Call it the Big Water Switch.Harford County residents became the first in the Baltimore area yesterday to draw water from the Susquehanna River and slow the draining of the region's drought-depleted reservoirs.As most Harford residents slumbered Friday night, workers at the county's Abingdon Filtration Plant slowly cranked a valve closed, shutting the flow of water from Baltimore."We came out of it with flying colors, and we're in better condition now after the 10-hour shutdown," said Talad Said, plant superintendent.

Despite being ordered to tap the Susquehanna River immediately to stretch the Baltimore area's dwindling water supply, city officials refused to say yesterday when they would comply -- setting up a possible legal confrontation with the state.George G. Balog, the city's public works director, said his staff is preparing to draw water from the river, but he insisted that Tuesday's order by Gov. Parris N. Glendening to begin pumping right away is "premature." The city still has enough water stored in its three reservoirs in Baltimore and Carroll counties to meet the area's needs for at least 60 more days, he said.

Westminster's Department of Public Works will flush fire hydrants from 8 p.m. to midnight Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.Affected areas are Cliveden Reach, Furnace Hills, Wakefield, Avondale and Carroll Lutheran Village.Flushing will cause some discoloration of water, and residents should not do laundry the next day. Faucets should be opened first thing the next morning, and the water allowed to run until it is clear.Residents should draw water the night before to get them through the flushing period.