Water in Jefferson

The WAC received a grant from WV Department of Health and Human Services, Department for Protection of Water Sources which will be implemented during 2009-2010. There are three components to the grant.

1. Working with the Solid Waste Authority and the School System to make people aware of proper disposal of hazardous waste. Education on a subject usually is the key to safety. There will be a hazardous waste collection during 2010 for local citizens to properly rid their households of chemical and harmful waste. More Information about this collection will be coming shortly.

2. Attractive signs will be placed in our watershed areas reminding citizens that they are drinking from these sources. "Think! This Is What You Drink!" will be the slogan of these signs.

3. County springs will be monitored for purity and abundance. By knowing the quantity of water we can rely on, as well as the quality of the spring, the County can make useful plans to serve our citizens. Dr. Peter Villa, Shepherd University, is working with WAC to conduct this study most effectively.

Another grant awarded to the County by the Eastern Panhandle Conservation District will enable us to work to repair stream buffers. This program will be a real complement to efforts being made with the grant from DHHR. Another portion of this money will be to work with the Elk Run Council already active to protect this primary drinking source for citizens of Harpers Ferry and Bolivar.

There will be more updates on water concerns and solutions as WAC continues to serve the community. Members of WAC include: Virginia Graf, (Chairwoman), Jane Arnett, Bob Denton, Roger Ethier, Larry Johnson, Dick Latterell, Sue Lawton, Ruth McQuade, Dan Riss, Lee Snyder, and Oscar Stine. County Commissioner Patsy Noland is the County Commission's liaison with WAC.

--Submitted by Virginia Lynch Graf, DMin

Rising Population Faces Shrinking Water Supply

By 2025, the world population is projected to reach 8 billion. People will need more water. Glaciers are melting, floods account for half of the deaths by natural catastrophes...water, water, seems to be everywhere. But in 25 years, if demand doesn't stop and management doesn't change, the people on this planet won't have enough water to drink, wash, irrigate cropland, generate electricity or supply industries.

"The arithmetic of water still does not add up," notes a new report of the World Commission on Water for the 21st Century. "In the next two decades, it is estimated that water use by humans will increase by about 40 percent, and that 17 percent more water will be needed to grow food for a growing population. In addition, the water demand for industry and energy will increase rapidly."

Ironically, although the oceans are expanding and vast storms have affected every continent in recent years, only 1 percent of the Earth's water is available for human use. The rest is either salty, stored in remote places or uncapturable--as in the case of floods. Quantity is not the only problem, however. The crisis is aggravated by environmental degradation, especially in poor countries where the population is expected to grow most in the coming decades.

A quarter of the world's people, living mainly in developing countries, lack access to drinking water, and around 3 billion people lack sewage-treatment facilities. More than 3 million children die annually of water-related diseases such as diarrhea and fecal-oral infections, the world's greatest source of infant mortality.

Pollution rates are a major concern for Europe and China, while the lack of irrigation affects the environment and food production in India. Urbanization and agricultural practices led to the reduction of the Florida Everglades, and an overall drought affects the U.S. Southwest. Pollution, droughts and an uneven distribution of fresh-water sources will strongly affect Africa even if steps are taken.

--News World Communications, Inc.

Looking at Water as an Important Concern in Jefferson County

In Jefferson County, the Water Advisory Committee (WAC,) appointed by the Jefferson County Commission, have looked at our own problems. Startling facts reveal that the Shenandoah River is in dire need of our attention. Pollutants and toxic materials are often dumped there and into our water sheds. By making citizens aware of water shortages, water pollutants, and hazardous materials often dumped into toilets or into the ground the risk of harming our water supply is real. The Shenandoah, Potomac and local streams all feed into the Chesapeake, a fresh water bay that needs to be protected. Sources of fresh water are becoming more rare.