On October 11, 2018 Brookfield Power Piney, and Deep Creek LLC, the owner of the Deep Creek Hydroelectric Station applied for renewal of their Water Appropriation and Use Permit issued previously in 2011. On September 2, 2020 the Maryland Department of the Environment approved Brookfield Power's request for a daily average water withdrawal of 128,000,000 gallons on a yearly basis from the Deep Creek Lake.
Basic Documents Related to Application
First Stakeholder Meeting
The first stakeholder meeting was held on February 28, 2019 at Wisp in McHenry, Maryland from 9 AM thru Noon with a lunch provided afterward.
The meeting summary is linked here. Additional documents are:
Second Stakeholder Meeting
The second stakeholder meeting was held on March 28, 2019 at Wisp in McHenry, Maryland from 9AM thru Noon.
The meeting summary is linked here. Additional documents are:
Third Stakeholder Meeting
The third and final stakeholder meeting was held April 25, 2019 at Wisp in McHenry, Maryland from 9AM thru Noon.
The meeting summary is posted here. Documents currently available are:
Subcommittee on the Temperature Enhancement Protocol
A subcommittee was created to consider proposed changes to the protocol governing the Temperature Enhancement Releases (TERs) required by the currently effective permit for Deep Creek Station. The existing protocol is run to determine if a TER should be made to maintain the water temperature less than 25 Degrees C in the Youghiogheny River between the project tailrace and Sang Run, during the months of June, July, and August when a Whitewater Recreational Release (WWR) will not be made and the flow measured at USGS streamgage 03075500 (Youghiogheny River Near Oakland, MD) is less than 150 cubic feet per second (cfs). Revisions to be considered include, but are not limited to, extending the period during which the Temperature Enhancement Protocol will be run until September 15 and raising the flow limit at Oakland from less than 150 cfs to less than 180 cfs. (The proposal to start running the protocol in May has been dropped as not being justified by current measurements.) One meeting was held on August 1, 2019. Below are various presentations, documents, and selected correspondence relevant to that meeting.
A second meeting of the subcommittee has been scheduled for December 4, 2019 at 10:30 AM at Garrett College, Room 103 of the Continuing Education Workforce Development building, which is shown on
this map. We do not yet have an agenda for this meeting, but will post the agenda when we do.
Selected Correspondence Related to the Permit Application
Below are links to selected correspondence related to the proposed permit renewal.
Public Informational Hearing
A Public Informational Hearing was held on October 15, 2019 at 3:00 PM at the Auditorum of Garrett College. Documents, presentations, and audio recordings are linked below.
The public comment period for this application remains open until close of business on December 16, 2019. Comments may be submitted by email to
john.grace@maryland.gov or by mail to John Grace, Chief, Source Protection and Appropriation Division, Water Supply Program, Maryland Department of the Environment, 1800 Washington Blvd., Baltimore, Maryland 21230.
Permit Issued Effective September 2, 2020
This permit has been issued effective September 2, 2020. The permit as issued and doucuments related to it are linked below.
For More Information
The history of the project, previous permits, and supporting information are documented at :
https://mde.maryland.gov/programs/Water/water_supply/Pages/DeepCreekLake.aspx
If you have any questions concerning the application, please contact the applicant by phone at 570-226-1371 or by mail at: Brookfield Power Piney & Deep Creek, LLC, 126 Lamberton Lane, Hawley PA 18428.
