Water Restrictions

Carroll water use reflects unseasonably hot weather Demand for water from Carroll's Freedom treatment plant increased significantly during the unseasonable hot spell last week and hit 2.5 million gallons April 17. Use fell back to 2 million gallons by the end of the week, county officials said yesterday. Because of the drought throughout Central Maryland, the state has imposed restrictions on outdoor water use. Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is calling for weekly reports from public systems, such as Carroll's, which supplies about 20,000 people.

County Council adopts resolution opposing Maglev The Anne Arundel County Council has adopted a resolution expressing opposition to the proposed magnetic levitation train project that would run through parts of the county, including Linthicum. Council members voted unanimously in favor of the resolution Monday night after hearing testimony from state delegates and residents who oppose the project, which has been endorsed by federal officials. County Executive Janet S. Owens said yesterday morning that Maglev would "destroy Linthicum."

In November, months before anyone was thinking about filling swimming pools or watering the grass, Westminster officials implemented water-use restrictions to help replenish the city's water sources after an especially dry summer and autumn. Since that time, drought conditions across the state have worsened, causing municipalities - and the state of Maryland - to pass water-use restrictions of their own. Westminster's restrictions, however, are more stringent than those issued by Gov. Parris N. Glendening last week, leading some of the 30,000 people served by the city's water and sewer system to wonder which guidelines prevail.

At a time when several of Hampstead's 14 public wells show signs of fatigue and with statewide water restrictions imminent, the town joined five Carroll municipalities in imposing water restrictions. The restrictions, unanimously approved by the Town Council this week, prohibit outdoor water use, including watering lawns, filling swimming pools and washing cars. Residents may use hand-held containers to water plants and shrubs. The council authorized a $100 fine per violation, but plans to introduce emergency legislation next month to provide further legal definition of the restrictions and enforcement.

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.

Maryland's deepening drought prompted state environmental authorities to issue a "drought warning" yesterday for 15 counties in Central Maryland and the Eastern Shore. The declaration asks residents, businesses and industry to voluntarily curb nonessential water use, and requires public water systems to take steps to reduce consumption. The state's action occurred one day after Baltimore announced it will begin drawing water from the Susquehanna River next week to conserve dwindling supplies in its reservoirs.

Thirty-four days have passed without significant rain across Maryland, and the deepening drought is now threatening winter grain crops, parching creeks and pastures, and constricting some community water supplies. Stream flows are dipping to record lows, and the wildfire danger remains high just as the hunting season gets under way. Even the state's fish need rain. Low spring flows have forced the state's biggest hatcheries to stop feeding their rainbow trout, and that could mean smaller trout for anglers next spring.

WILDFIRES and water restrictions are the sobering results of a serious autumn rainfall shortage that's been pleasantly camouflaged by sunny skies and mild temperatures. Maryland banned open-air burning as scores of brush fires scorched woodlands throughout the state. Westminster curtailed outdoor water use and reinforced indoor water conservation measures as its municipal reservoir dropped to a dangerous 30 percent level. Three other Carroll County towns also have water use restrictions.

South Carroll will have a severe water shortage by the beginning of next summer, with demand so much greater than supply, county officials say, that they are certain they'll be forced to impose restrictions. "I don't have water for next year," said Doug Myers, Carroll's director of public works. "You can't get blood out of a turnip. Something has to be done. The only option now is no more building and South Carroll living constantly with a water ban. There will be bans on like 1999, only longer and stricter."

Carroll officials urged residents of Eldersburg and Sykesville, the county's most populous area, yesterday to voluntarily conserve water or face mandatory restrictions as early as next week. The lingering heat wave and an increased demand for water are threatening to overwhelm South Carroll's public water system, which relies on a 30-year-old plant to draw and treat water from the Liberty Reservoir, and one well. About 18,000 people in South Carroll use public water. The Freedom Area Treatment Plant has been operating at full capacity for more than a week.