Coping with a water shortage and a booming population, Carroll County has a unique plan to preserve farmland and allow towns to use more water to expand development.
“It?s what I would consider a pilot project with some really great ramifications,” said Ralph Robertson, program manager of the county?s Agricultural Land Preservation Program.
Large plots of farmland often have more water running in wells beneath it than the farmers can use, said Tom Devilbiss, the county?s deputy planning director. Municipalities, on the other hand, are looking to expand to accommodate growing populations, but some don?t have enough water to do so.
The state doles water recharge credits to landowners, limiting the amount of water that can be pumped from wells so rainwater falling on the land can replenish the wells beneath.
With municipalities and nearby farms using the same pool of underground water, county planners and land preservation workers have devised a plan to allow towns to take farms? unused recharge credits.
One farm in Uniontown has already entered into an agreement with the county, which would then need to agree with a town so it can pump more water, Devilbiss said. The second agreement requires permission from the Maryland Department of the Environment, and the county is working to complete that part of the plan, Devilbiss said.
Chief of Staff Steven Powell lauded the plan as a map for other counties to follow.
“This is not typical,” Powell said. “We are the first county in the state. Every jurisdiction in Maryland has this issue, every municipality, and we have come up with a rather unique and appropriate way to assist with smart growth to have our towns be towns and our country be country.”
