Letter to the editor: Public water resources should not benefit private industry

In the article “Lack of snow, where rainfall ends up factors in declining Beaver Run reservoir levels” (Jan. 5, TribLive), Renatta Signorini wrote about the dire situation at the reservoir. The water level is so low that the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County ordered corporations to stop withdrawing water for fracking on Nov. 10. But the state of Pennsylvania issued a drought watch on June 15 — six months before the order. Why did MAWC officials wait almost half a year before they acted?

MAWC should automatically halt fracking corporations’ water withdrawals any time the state issues a drought watch, and it should last at least until the watch is lifted. I urge MAWC to make this a binding policy.

Unfortunately, this may not be enough. Signorini explains that it took multiple dry seasons in a row for the situation at the reservoir to decay this far. All the while, frackers withdrew water. Therefore, I also urge MAWC to impose stricter limits on how much water corporations can withdraw from Beaver Run for heavy industrial applications, whether there is a drought or not.

Even after this drought recedes, we must remember that there will always be another drought. The choices we make when water levels are high dictate how low they will recede during drought. On rainy days, we should plan for the next dry spell.

Public water resources should benefit the public, not private industry. Humans, livestock and crops come first.

Tom Pike

Forest Hills

The writer is an environmental policy advocate for Protect PT.