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Press Release

ANNAPOLIS, MD (September 19, 2005) – Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. announces the appointment of members to the Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State’s Water Resources and that body’s first meeting next week.

Governor Ehrlich whose executive order created the first Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State’s Water Resources in 2003 established the successor committee in May to advise the state in implementing programs and policies for the long-term sustainable use and protection of the state’s water resources.

“Water supply is an important priority for this Administration,” Governor Ehrlich said. “This group’s work will help us assist counties as they develop their comprehensive zoning and water/sewer plans. Vital information needs to be shared in advance of the growth that is occurring in our newer urbanized areas.”

The Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State’s Water Resources will again be chaired by Dr. M. Gordon “Reds” Wolman, formerly chairman of the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at The Johns Hopkins University and a nationally recognized expert on water issues.

The remaining gubernatorial appointees are:

  • Betty Ballas, Mayor of Federalsburg

  • John Chlada, Vice President of Environmental Affairs, Perdue Farms

  • Jim Gerhart, Director, U.S. Geological Survey’s MD-DE-DC Water Science Center

  • Perry Jones, Carroll County Commissioner

  • J. Alan Roberson, Director of Security & Regulatory Affairs, American Waterworks Association

  • Sarah Taylor-Rogers, Assistant Director, Md. Center for Agro-Ecology, University of Maryland

  • C. Victoria Woodward, Esq., Executive Director, Safe Waterways in Maryland

  • State Sen. Roy Dyson (St. Mary’s) and Del. Galen R. Clagett (Frederick County) will serve as the legislative appointees.

The state agency representatives will be:

  • Louise Lawrence, Dept. of Agriculture

  • Robert Summers, Ph.D. , Dept,. of Environment

  • Alan Brench, Ph. D., Dept, of Health & Mental Hygiene

  • David Goshorn, Ph. D., Dept. of Natural Resources

  • Larry Fogelson, Dept. of Planning

The 15-member blue-ribbon advisory committee will:

  • Review the latest information from state, local and federal agencies concerning assessments of the quality and quantity of the State’s ground and surface water resources;

  • Review local, state and federal laws, regulations, policies and funding related to the management, development, conservation and protection of ground and surface water resources;

  • Assess the adequacy of existing governmental resources, regulatory, enforcement and monitoring programs that are available for the management, development, conservation and protection of the state’s ground and surface water resources;

  • Identify alternatives for additional sources of water supply, such as storage, reservoirs, water system interconnections, inter-basin water transfers, or other means that may be necessary to meet future water demand;

  • Recommend additional actions, studies, policies, regulations or laws necessary to assure that the management and protection of the state’s surface and ground water resources is conducted in a manner consistent with their long-term sustainable use and protection;

  • Identify appropriate State, federal and local government and private funding mechanisms to ensure that the actions recommended by the Committee may be appropriately implemented; and

  • Develop and recommend to the Governor a comprehensive strategy, including the above elements and any other elements the Committee believes are necessary to ensure the adequacy of the State’s water resources to meet the current and projected demand for water through 2030.

The Maryland Department of the Environment will provide staff support to the advisory committee, which will meet on a quarterly basis or more often if necessary.

An interim report on the committee’s work must be sent to the Governor by July 1, 2006 while its final report will be due by July 1, 2008.

The Advisory Committee on the Management and Protection of the State’s Water Resources will hold its first meeting Sept. 28 at 9:30 a.m. in the Aeris and Aqua Conference Rooms at the Maryland Department of the Environment’s headquarters, located at 1800 Washington Boulevard in Baltimore. The committee’s proceedings will be open to the public. For more information, contact Herb Sachs at (410) 537-3731.

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