"It Was Clean When It Left Here"

Potter County’s water protection activities were held up as an example for other parts of the state. “It Was Clean When It Left Here . . . “ was the title of the keynote address presented by Commissioner Paul Heimel and Conservation District water specialist Jason Childs during the annual Water Resources Education Network (WREN) Conference in Carlisle. Among attendees were administrators and technicians from the Pa. Dept. of Environmental Resources, gas industry professionals, volunteer water quality monitors, scientists, policy-makers, educators and others.

The presentation's theme refers to the programs in place across Potter County to protect the three watersheds that trace their origins to a plateau in northern Potter County. The concept is this -- we take responsibility for water quality from its source to the county border. As it enters the adjacent counties, the responsibility becomes theirs, and it continues on down the watershed.

Heimel spoke on the evolution of the Potter County Natural Gas Resource Center; the Triple Divide Watershed Coalition for all of the county’s public water systems; the Potter County Water Quality Work Group, and the volunteer activities of local watershed associations and Trout Unlimited members. Childs traced the activities of the Conservation District, with an emphasis on environmental stewardship and public education. They emphasized the importance of clean water advocates working within the established regulatory system and maintaining their credibility. While acknowledging shale gas drilling in the region as the impetus for many of the local activities, they pointed out that other land disturbance and surface activities can adversely impact water quality.