Contact:
Erin Mooney, Trout Unlimited, (215) 557-2845, emooney@tu.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Trout Unlimited Applauds SRBC Decision to Temporarily Suspend Marcellus Water Withdrawals
Decision will help protect streams throughout Pennsylvania’s Marcellus region.
Harrisburg, Pa. Trout Unlimited commends today’s decision by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission to suspend water withdrawals in five Pennsylvania counties for Marcellus drilling because of low stream flows.
“The SRBC is taking a proactive approach that will help protect critical aquatic life,” said Katy Dunlap, Trout Unlimited’s Eastern Water Project Director. “Trout Unlimited calls on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to follow the SRBC’s lead and suspend water withdrawals in other areas of the state affected by low water levels,” Dunlap said.
“Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection shouldn’t wait for a drought situation to occur before it takes action to limit water withdrawals in other areas of the state,” said Ken Undercoffer, president of Trout Unlimited’s Pennsylvania Council. “This is an opportunity for DEP to protect natural resources across Pennsylvania, before other streams get to emergency levels,” Undercoffer said.
With current low water flows occurring across the state, aquatic life in streams and rivers can be at risk if water levels are not naturally replenished through additional rainfall.
Trout Unlimited has trained 200 volunteers in its Coldwater Conservation Corps program to actively monitor rivers and streams throughout Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region, measuring stream flow and water quality.
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Trout Unlimited is a non-profit organization with more than 147,000 members dedicated to conserving, protecting and restoring North America’s trout and salmon fisheries and their watersheds. Follow TU on the TU blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter via @TroutUnlimited.