PAT CROSSLEY/Sun-Gazette Wendy Walter (in red), speaks to representatives from various state and local agencies about the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority’s reservoir and Watershed during a tour.

The 51,000 residents of Lycoming County who depend on the Williamsport Municipal Water Authority for the water that flows from faucets in their homes and businesses can be assured that it is safe and, at this time, abundant because of actions taken over the past 100 years.

“Around 1900, the companies that owned the water authority saw fit that they should own, in order to protect, the water that was being supplied to the citizens of Williamsport,” said Wendy Walter, director of compliance, safety and security at the authority.

It was about that time they started to acquire land in the watershed in the Mosquito Valley area, which today totals around 10,000 acres.

A typhoid outbreak in 1917 sped up the acquisition of properties, relocating residents who lived in the watershed area. By 1923, that was pretty much concluded, Walter said, so that now the water company owns most of the acreage, a situation that is not common to all watersheds in the state.

“We’re very fortunate. I think that our forefathers and the people that began to develop this in the late 1800s and early 1900s really were seeing well into the future by the way they set things up,” she said.

“We hope it gives our customers confidence in their tap water. That they know that the watershed is maintained and controlled for their benefit. That’s what we’re looking out for,” Walter said.

Walter spoke to a group of representatives of state and local agencies at the authority’s reservoir along Mosquito Valley Road.

The land owned by the water authority includes two large reservoirs in two separate watersheds: the Hagerman watershed and the Mosquito Valley watershed. The Hagerman watershed area has a large reservoir, the Heller Reservoir, which holds 530 million gallons of water. A lower reservoir, the Hagerman’s Run Reservoir, has another 7 million gallons in storage.

The Mosquito side of the watershed has the Youngman reservoir which holds 530 million gallons of water and a lower reservoir that holds 21 million gallons of water.

“That’s a lot of water in storage,” Walter said.

“In addition to that, we have nine wells over at the foot of Lycoming Creek where it goes into the Susquehanna River,” Walter said.

Originally there were seven hand dug wells and then in the 1980’s two wells were added to supplement the existing wells.

“That’s a very nice source of water that can either be pumped directly to the filter plant for treatment. It can be pumped into this lower reservoir to be mixed with the surface water or it can actually be pumped directly into the system,” she explained.

“So, we have a lot of different ways to provide water. Somebody a long time ago had the foresight and thought that having that flexibility was a good idea,” she added.

The water supplied to customers of the water authority, including many of the major employers in the area, is what Walter termed “abundant and redundant.”

A filter plant was built in 1992 which can treat 12.5 million gallons of water a day, so there is an ample source of water. Currently, the authority produces 5.5 million gallons that is distributed to customers, both industrial and residential.

“So, we’re what I call a very water rich area,” Walter said.

“When I talk to people and see things that are going on out west where people can’t water their lawns and industries have difficulty getting allocations of water — it’s just not our issue here,” she said.

“Because of the ownership of the land, and then even beyond the parcels that you own, you have various partnership agreements or easements and things with other land owners, you have so much more control over what happens,” said Megan Lehman, community relations coordinator with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

“You don’t have to worry if there is some type of a facility, land-use business, right next to our water source that maybe they’re not following the regulations or maybe they’re not taking precautions as they should, and one big spill becomes we have to shut it down. And then what do we do,” Lehman said.

In 2009, the authority developed a Source Water Protection Plan to ensure the safety of the watershed. Developing a water protection plan is voluntary.

“It is truly a book or a plan that doesn’t sit on the shelf,” Walter said. “It’s a living document.”

“We can get it out to update it or to see what has changed and what needs to be incorporated,” she added.

A lot of things have changed environmentally since the plan was formulated. One is that there are new sources of contaminants that have to be checked for in the system.

“So, they go out every year and check on those potential sources of contaminants. They can come up with educational activities,” said Edie Gair, licensed professional geologist with the state’s Department of Environmental Protection.

“So educational programs and then community outreach. Those things are all involved in the source water protection plan and then they maintain those going forward,” Gair added.

The Water Authority has refurbished an existing property, Waterdale Lodge, near the reservoir to serve as an educational facility for school groups of all ages.

“I don’t think that when we wrote the plan in 2009, we thought that this would be what it is today,” Walter said.

A retired employee of the authority developed the educational program which now meets the state’s education standards for students in grades 4 through 12.

“They bring a class over for half a day or one day. They can really concentrate on doing field work and interacting with nature,” Walter said.

“It’s one thing to sit at a desk and try to identify insects, but it’s completely different when you go to the stream over there and you hunt for them and you bring them in the lab and lay them out on a table,” she said.

Lehman also pointed out the importance of teaching young children the connections between pollution and water quality.

“What we do on the land, if we pollute, the choices we make about how we live, affects water quality, which affects the bugs in the stream, which affects the fish in the stream and, oh wait, by the way, we’re drinking that too,” Lehman said.

The watershed area is open to the public for biking, hiking and cross country skiing but there are regulations. Permits to hunt on the property are also available on a limited basis.

“It’s kind of a fine line because you know this is a beautiful gem for this area, for this community. So, we very much want to showcase and have people have access to it, but at the same time we want to make sure that we’re doing things that go along with what our goal is here,” Walter said.

One topic addressed at the tour was the drought situation this summer.

“I know we don’t have an official drought, but we have some serious issues going on,” Lehman said.

“We know that when we don’t have to mow your yard for three weeks,” she added.

Walter responded that because of the abundance of the water supply, “we try very hard not to be in a position where we have to call for conservation by our customers.”

Although the authority is permitted to put out 12.5 million gallons, they currently are only putting out about 5.5 gallons.

“We typically are not in a situation where we need people to conserve water. Our reservoirs are about 90% full for August and that’s a great place to be normally,” Walter said.

She noted that the fact that the authority has an abundant supply of water is also an economic driver to attract industry to the area.

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