Carroll?s 20-year blueprint for development has stalled over uncertainty about the county?s dwindling water supply.
The plan hinges on whether the Maryland Department of the Environment will allow Carroll to add another reservoir. But the state is late in telling the county, pushing everything back indefinitely, county officials said.
“Water is going to be key for the future,” County Commissioner Julia Gouge said. “We can?t push growth around the town without using more water, so we?re sort of at a standstill.”
The master plan was to be released this month. But Gouge said she has “no idea” when it might get done and doubted it would be this year.
Carroll?s population growth will depend on whether it has enough water, said Steve Horn, the county?s planning director.
Planners hope to incorporate growth, housing and economic development while preserving the county?s rural atmosphere, said Brenda Dinne, the county’s bureau chief of comprehensive planning.
“The general idea of any comprehensive plan is to identify where the county wants to go,” Dinne said. “It?s kind of like our road map.”
During droughts, the state has told Carroll to conserve water to its 1996 level, but with a growing population, that has been a struggle, Gouge said.
“When they say we can?t use any more water than we did back then, it sort of cuts us off,” Gouge said.
The plan could be altered based on state assessments of water supply and can be adjusted again after public comments, Gouge said.
