After two decades of struggle, Pennsylvania has finally secured legislation requiring the state to design and implement a water-conservation strategy. The Water Resources Planning Act, signed into law this week by outgoing Gov. Mark Schweiker (R), is widely seen as a first step in determining the amount of water available in Pennsylvania, as well as establishing how watersheds can best be protected and how the state can prepare for drought. The law stipulates that anyone who uses an average of 10,000 gallons of water per day over a 30-day period must tell the state where the water came from and how much was used. It also establishes a state advisory board and six regional advisory boards, which together will be responsible for developing a water conservation plan by 2008. Contrary to what you might expect, most of Pennsylvania’s environmental groups — including the Sierra Club, Pennsylvania Environmental Council, Clean Water Action, and others — are unhappy about the law, largely because it gives the state board veto power over the conservation plan.
