Water Conservation

Town Manager John Riley had hoped the higher water rates would attract large numbers of residents to a meeting on conservation.But only 17 people attended Thursday's free seminar on water conservation, sponsored by the Vaughn Women's Club of Hampstead, the Maryland Cooperative Extension Service, the town of Hampstead and the county Bureauof Water Resources Management."

Harford County Sustainability Office, Recycling Office and Harford County Public Schools partnered for the third year to hold the Conservation and Preservation Poster Contest to raise awareness about efficiently using and reusing resources. This year, the four themes and grade categories were identified: kindergarten through second grade, Biking and Walking; grades three to five, Water Conservation; grades six to eight, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rethink; and grades nine to 12, Recycling Office logo.

Concerned about drought conditions and looming water shortages, the Carroll commissioners urged water conservation yesterday, but stopped short of any kind of a ban on use, including filling swimming pools. "Conservation is important this summer," said Commissioner Julia Walsh Gouge during a meeting on water issues. "Start now." Douglas E. Myers, county director of public works, had suggested an immediate ban on filling swimming pools, a process that consumes thousands of gallons of water every spring.

Holiday lights The 19th annual "Symphony of Lights," a 20-minute drive-through spectacle of more than 70 larger-than-life holiday light displays, opens Monday, Nov. 19, and continues through Jan. 6 at Symphony Woods in Columbia. Hours are 6 p.m.-10 p.m. daily. Admission is $20 per car or van, up to eight passengers; $45 for commercial vans and minibuses seating nine to 24 people; and $125 for buses exceeding 24 passengers. Information: 410-740-7840 or hcgh.org/symphonyoflights . The event benefits Howard County General Hospital.

Sixth-graders from Perryville Middle School in Cecil County have been battling it out for the designation of "Most Water Saved." From March 10 to March 14, nine sixth-grade classrooms participated in the water conservation contest, said Susan Obleski, director of communications for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The contest was designed to target home water use and required pupils to record their daily use. "Students will learn that because they do it themselves that they can make a difference," Obleski said.

The water conservation order in Baltimore County was to be lifted at dawn today after repairs were completed last night to a pumping station and broken water main, a Baltimore Department of Public Works spokesman said. "We're going to replenish the Towson Reservoir [overnight] so voluntary conservation efforts can be lifted in the morning," spokesman Kurt Kocher said. "We deeply appreciate the conservation efforts made by the citizens of Baltimore County and the cooperation we received from county government," Kocher said.

Summerlike temperatures have prompted a call for voluntary water conservation in the Freedom District, Carroll County's most populous area.The Freedom water treatment plant serves about 6,000 households in South Carroll and includes Eldersburg and Sykesville.The area suffers from seasonal water shortages, and the county Bureau of Utilities hopes an early warning can avoid water bans such as those imposed in the severe drought last year."We want to get the notice out prior to any panic," said Wayne Lewns, chief of the county Bureau of Utilities.

Water shortages are an important social and ecological issue, and gardeners are on its cutting edge: No matter where the water goes, we are often its most visible consumers.Three of the last five years have produced record-breaking droughts in our area. This year seems destined to join that number, with the familiar pattern of little or insufficient rainfall between mid-April and early September, except for the odd shower or thunderstorm.While we may lament the lack of rain, our predisposition is essentially to do nothing and wait for a return to "normal."

or the possible lack of it -- is expected to soak up a good deal of time during tomorrow's meeting between Carroll's eight mayors and theCounty Commissioners.With all of the county's eight municipalities experiencing well above average water use this summer, some leaders are looking to the commissioners to come up with a comprehensive water-conservation program."I think now is an excellent time for the county to begin its conservation program," Westminster Mayor W. Benjamin Brown said."I think you should strike while the iron is still hot."

When Carroll's eight mayors get together with the county commissioners for their quarterly meeting tomorrow, water and budget issues promise to dominate the discussion. The meetings are an opportunity for municipal leaders to share information, socialize and promote town events, but with a drought lingering, water restrictions in effect or predicted, and constant budget-crunching that could cut into the towns' funding, the conversation could quickly turn serious. "It could be a pretty dry meeting - no pun intended," said Taneytown Mayor Henry C. Heine Jr. Taneytown, Mount Airy, Manchester and Westminster have not lifted last summer's water restrictions on watering lawns, washing cars and filling pools.

The Bay Restoration Fee, more commonly known as the "flush tax," does more than help clean up the Chesapeake Bay ("O'Malley grilled on green agenda," Feb.15). This money is used to update Maryland's wastewater and sewage treatment plants. Maryland's drinking water is put at risk when wastewater is leaked from outdated pipes and systems into our waterways. The flush tax is used to fix these leaking pipes and upgrade a system that is decades old. The sliding tax that is proposed in Gov.Martin O'Malley's legislation will help to promote water conservation.

At a small construction site tucked between an ice skating rink and an office building, students, professors and contractors sing along to country music as they put the finishing touches on two small houses joined in the middle by a manmade wetland. The University of Maryland students are building WaterShed, the school's entry in the 2011 Solar Decathlon. They are competing against 19 other teams from around the world, including China and Australia. After months of construction and more than a year of design and planning, the house — powered entirely by solar energy, but with a focus on water conservation and reuse — is nearing completion.

The future of America's great outdoors is in the hands of Congress this week. On Wednesday, it is likely both the House and the Senate will have a historic opportunity to support and reinvigorate the nation's key program for protecting our lands and waters. Since 1965, the Land and Water Conservation Fund has been instrumental in preserving iconic national landmarks, wildlife refuges, working farms and ranches, and state and local parks. With America now losing 3 million acres every year to development, ensuring full funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund is more critical than ever.

A temporary repair has been made to a 20-inch water main in Catonsville that had caused officials to ask residents in the affected area to conserve water until the broken line was fixed. The repair has allowed the Catonsville Pumping Station to function at normal levels, city officials said Sunday. A permant repair to the main, which broke Saturday night, has will be scheduled and residents will be notified. The call for conservation has been lifted in the following zip codes: 21043; 21207; 21228; and 21244.

Gabrielle "Gabby" Kozera, 17, imagines the continent of Africa in the shape of the human heart, with clean water as the lifeblood of its many struggling nations. As she began her senior year at Maryvale Preparatory School in Brooklandville, she launched her Water = Heart project with the goal of raising $4,600, the cost of drilling a community well for a village in Kenya. "This one resource that we in America consider our right is often not even a basic in Africa," she said.

A water conservation order was lifted at 6 a.m. Friday while crews continue to repair a major water main that broke Thursday on Argonne Drive, just south of the Northwood Shopping Center in Northeast Baltimore. To shut down water to the 1600 block of Argonne Drive, the Baltimore Department of Public Works also had to restrict the flow of water to the chlorinator at the Montebello water filtration plant, said DPW spokesman Kurt Kocher. The department supplies water to both city and county residents, as well as some surrounding counties such as Anne Arundel and Howard.

Budget proposal to be presentedCarroll's county commissioners will present the proposed budget for fiscal 1995 at a public hearing at 7:30 p.m. on May 12 in the Westminster High School auditorium.The budget is expected to be about $142 million, about 9 percent more than the current year.Commissioner Donald I. Dell will open the hearing with comments, and Commissioners Elmer C. Lippy and Julia W. Gouge also will make statements.Budget director Steven Powell will read the legal notice of the budget before residents may make comments.

At a small construction site tucked between an ice skating rink and an office building, students, professors and contractors sing along to country music as they put the finishing touches on two small houses joined in the middle by a manmade wetland. The University of Maryland students are building WaterShed, the school's entry in the 2011 Solar Decathlon. They are competing against 19 other teams from around the world, including China and Australia. After months of construction and more than a year of design and planning, the house — powered entirely by solar energy, but with a focus on water conservation and reuse — is nearing completion.