Impact of the HLS Water Usage on the Water Table
- Joe Lacetera
The applicant's testimony on projected water usage at the proposed school has included key false statements designed to minimize its estimated impact on the water table.
The applicant's "expert" land-use witness testified, on August 24th, 2005, that the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) water usage estimates for students is 15 gallons of water per day per student including the use of showers. This statement was false. The 15 gallons per day estimate does not include showers. The use of showers adds another 10 gallons per day per student. The 15 gallon per day estimate for 300 students gives a maximum usage of 4500 gallons per day. This plus another 450 gallons per day for other users adds up to 4950 gallons per day, conveniently under the 5000 galloon per day limit before a Groundwater Appropriations Permit (GAP) is required. However, the correct estimate of water usage should be based, at least, on the 15 + 10 = 25 gallons per day per student, or 7500 gallons per day per student. This puts the projected usage to well over the 5000 gallon per day trigger for the GAP requirement. On January 23rd, 2006, this "error" by the applicant's expert was brought to light under cross examination. When the correct water demand estimates are considered, it can be expected that the water table will be severely impacted along with and major stress on septic systems.
The applicant witness testimony that all of the irrigation water goes right back into the system is also incorrect. Irrigation is done when the conditions demand it. Under dry and hot conditions, a significant portion of the irrigation water will evaporate into the atmosphere, and some of it is potential run off. According to a Clemson University website: "Evaporative losses can be quite severe. A typical sprinkler system operated at noon on a hot [day] can lose 30 percent or more of the water to evaporation [and] runoff occurs when water is applied more quickly than the soil can absorb it. and from the University of Georgia: "Typical application efficiencies for sprinkler irrigation equipment vary from 75 percent to 90 percent.".
Most of the water that is absorbed into the ground is carried off in the highest level aquifer to another location, not necessarily in the immediate vicinity, potentially impacting some of the wells in the Whitaker Mill Road community.
Next, the applicant's well digger witness testimony implied that there were no well failures in the Millstad area. My own well provides a counter-example that shows how fragile our water supply really is. It is a 408 foot well, and twice it has run temporarily dry. One of these cases involved a hole in a simple garden hose, leaking at a relatively low flow rate that doesn’t even come close to the volume of water that will be used by the school in normal use. Now, since this was not reported, Harford County has no record of this. This is a case in point, in that there is a disparity between actual well histories and reported and recorded histories. There have also been reports of well replacements in the Millwood development and some Terry Way/Woodridge area homes tied in to city water when their wells failed, but this isn't shown on the map; and I understand that the developer of the Woodridge development waited until he could put homes on city water lines coming off Route 1. This is another case in point in that there is a disparity between actual well histories and the limited knowledge of a single well digger.
In summary, there are well founded concerns regarding the impact of the school on water table levels and water quality in the community. Clearly, the water supply is not inexhaustible. Our water supply is fragile and there are serious questions of whether the water table will be able to supply sufficient water if it undergoes the additional stress that will come with the potential consumption of 7950 gallons per day by the school.