Water Resources and Planning

In recent months, the availability of water and water storage capacity have become the primary issues in the regional planning and development community. Westminster is no exception. A revised approach in the way Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) analyzes the City's drought preparedness has resulted in changes in the way City leaders view and manage our treated water supply.

The City contracted with an Environmental Engineering Firm, Stearns and Wheler, to produce the following report, which details Westminsters supply capacity and demand trends, projecting the the impact of future demand on the water system.    
This plan, and an accompanying presentation can be downloaded by clicking the links below:

Water Supply Capacity Management Plan (WSCMP) (2.03 MB)
Appendices (1.53 MB)
Presentation on WSCMP (1.98 MB)

Following this report, City officials and Department of Planning and Public works staff worked together with MDE to develop an agreement, outlining the steps the City would take to improve its ability to supply treated water to future development during a severe drought. This agreement, along with a press release summarizing the agreement can be downloaded by clicking on the links below: 

Consent Agreement with MDE
Consent Agreement Press Release

Part of the consent agreement specifies that the City is to develop an interim policy, setting up a system to determine how the City will allocate its water resources. A copy of that interim policy, and an application for a water allocation are available for download below:

Interim Allocation Policy
Application for Allocation  

City planning staff will use the allocation applications to project the potential impact of proposed projects on the water system.

Another part of the Consent Agreement specifies that the City is to develop a plan for reducing the demand for treated water. Information on that plan should be available soon.

For questions regarding the City's plans to manage its water resources, contact the Planning Department at (410)848-4363, or email planning staff using the links on the Department of Planning and Public Works homepage.