George Washington Argued Here

Nov. 29, 2016
Ec Jk Blog

We’ve seen them often enough in other parts of the country, and now one is flaring up on the Potomac River: a battle over water rights. The origins of this one go back almost four centuries and involve an agreement negotiated in 1785 by George Washington years before he became the first US president.

As this article reports, West Virginia is threatening to sue Maryland to gain unlimited access to the river’s water. Maryland has been imposing limits on the amount West Virginia and other states can take, although West Virginia’s attorney general has argued that Maryland doesn’t have the right to do so, in part because of that George Washington-influenced agreement and because of a much more recent Supreme Court ruling.

The urgency over the issue now is that Proctor and Gamble is building a half-billion-dollar manufacturing plant in Berkeley County, West Virginia, which is expected to bring 700 much-needed jobs to the state. The plant will require about 1.3 million more gallons of water per day from the Potomac than the 2.4 million gallons the county water treatment plant currently draws from the river. The county is authorized to draw up to 4 million gallons a day—enough to accommodate the plant itself—but increased development and industry associated with the P&G factory is expected to increase demand beyond that amount.

As the parties on all sides acknowledge, the water situation isn’t as bad in this part of the country as it is in other places, especially those that are experiencing long-term drought, but the precedent that could be set here will be far-reaching.

Has there been—or is there an ongoing—dispute of this type in your area? What’s putting the most demand on water resources—industry, agriculture, or urban development?

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About the Author

Janice Kaspersen

Janice Kaspersen is the former editor of Erosion Control and Stormwater magazines.