Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Federal Participants
Elsewhere in the East, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has a huge
say in how water is managed, says Philadelphia water attorney
Kenneth J. Warren. However, unlike in the West where appropri-
ated water rights can limit government discretion, in the East gov-
ernment agencies make the major water allocation decisions.
“Private individuals are not making these major water decisions
because most of the Eastern states have a permitting system applica-
ble to water withdrawals within the state, and when interstate con-
fl icts arise, compacts and Supreme Court decisions have in some
regions resolved the disputes,” says Warren.
That doesn't make water decisions any less complicated.
Take the Delaware River Basin, which drains parts of Delaware,
Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Engineering representatives
from the environmental departments of the various states involved,
as well as from New York City, play a huge role in managing water,
Warren says. This system exists because in a 1954 decree, the U.S.
Supreme Court allocated Delaware Basin water among the basin
states and New York City. The Delaware River Basin Compact, which
established the Delaware River Basin Commission, gave the com-
mission the right to allocate water resources as long as it does not
adversely affect the rights of the parties under the Supreme Court
decree. New York City and the four states in the basin are parties to
the Supreme Court decree, and as such each essentially has a veto
in cases where a water allocation might affect their rights under the
Supreme Court ruling, says Warren. (Figure that one out!)
Water Resource Directors
In Pennsylvania, a state water director might be a good idea, says
Dellapenna. Many individuals play a role in deciding who gets the
water, but no one at the state level regulates how water is used, he
adds. That's problematic in a state that straddles three major water-
sheds—the Delaware River, the Susquehanna River, and the Ohio
River watersheds—plus some minor ones.
As a result, a statewide water crisis is rare. “One watershed may
be in crisis and someone will say we need water-law reform, but two-
thirds of the state isn't and says, 'No, we don't.' If someone started
