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Greetings POA Members!

Since our last update, representatives from your POA Board have been diligently at work advocating for issues on your behalf with regard to the reauthorization of the Water Appropriation Permit for Deep Creek Lake.  We have represented you at a 15 October public hearing at Garrett College and at two stakeholder meetings to review the Temperature Enhancement Release {TER} protocol. (The latter is designed to control downstream Youghiogheny River temperatures in the interest of fish health.)  We have also been in email and telephonic contact with the Maryland Department of the Environment which is responsible for the Permit.

 Throughout this unexpectedly long discussion and review process, our fundamental positions have been that—

  • a water level predictive capability should be a permit requirement,
  •  this capability should be used to predict imminent breaches of the Lower Rule Band (LRB) in “dry” years as well as opportunities for additional whitewater releases in “wet” years
  • the LRB---already a compromise relative to providing late-season dock access----should be protected, including making TER’s subject to the LRB. (TER’s are currently executed independent of water level.)

Current situation---Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) is currently in the process of generating (1) a “response to comments” document and (2) the new permit. These 2 products will be released to the public simultaneously, noting that the release date remains uncertain. Their purpose is to inform stakeholders and the broader public of MDE decisions on proposed changes and to publish the permit, viewed as final pending an apparently required legal review (e.g., Clean Water Act compliance).

We are “cautiously optimistic” that the new permit will call for a predictive capability and at least specify that any TER extensions into September cannot be executed if an LRB breach is predicted. However, we’ll see. We can only assure you that we will review the new permit in some detail and keep you posted.  Special thanks to POA board member, John Quilty, for his efforts on behalf of all of the POA members. 

Regards,

Susie Crawford

First VP

Property Owners' Association of Deep Creek Lake, PO Box 618, McHenry MD 21541

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