SRBC Expands Its Water Withdrawal Ban

Scott Detrow

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Scott Detrow is a congressional correspondent for NPR. He also co-hosts the NPR Politics Podcast.

Detrow joined NPR in 2015 to cover the presidential election. He focused on the Republican side of the 2016 race, spending time on the campaign trail with Donald Trump, and also reported on the election's technology and data angles.

Detrow worked as a statehouse reporter for member stations WITF in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and KQED in San Francisco, California. He has also covered energy policy for NPR's StateImpact project, where his reports on Pennsylvania's hydraulic fracturing boom won a DuPont-Columbia and national Edward R. Murrow Award in 2013.

July 27, 2011 | 3:58 PM

A quick update on the Susquehanna River Basin Commission’s week-old freeze on water withdrawals: it’s still in effect.
In fact, the ban has expanded from 36 to 41 different locations along the river and its tributaries, and will stay in place until water levels rise and stay elevated for 48 hours.
The moratorium impacts natural gas drilling, because energy companies use thousands of gallons of fluid during the hydraulic fracturing process, and get much of their liquid from nearby streams.
There’s no blanket water level that triggers the moratorium. Each withdrawal source “has [its own] predetermined trigger level,” explained SRBC spokeswoman Susan Obleski. “We establish a very conservative number, and when that hits, [withdrawal] has to cease.”
The freeze hasn’t stopped drilling, yet. Chesapeake Energy has been barred from withdrawing water at at least three locations, but company spokesman Rory Sweeney said Chesapeake drillers anticipate summertime withdrawal moratoriums, and “plan accordingly.”
“Through proper planning and water management such as the extensive use of freshwater storage impoundments and our industry-leading Aqua Renew water recycling and reuse program,” his statement continued, “these seasonal changes in water availability are extensively planned for and are not expected to have a significant effect on our operations.”
How does the SRBC know whether companies are complying with the freeze? Stream gauges run by the United States Geological Survey monitor every withdrawal point, and the commission would be able to tell if companies are dipping in. The commission also sends inspectors out into the field to do random spot checks. Obleski said when SRBC staff visited the water sources during a 2010 moratorium, they found, “they found 100 percent compliance” by the energy companies.