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LOCK HAVEN -- With water levels at Ohl Reservoir beginning to climb, and Keller Dam remaining full, the Water Filtration Authority is looking to discuss a timeframe for the implementation of a temporary water source previously enacted by city council and other entities that use the city-owned reservoirs.
According to an emergency water supply report from Jan. 8, the water elevation level at Ohl Reservoir is at 1,657.2 feet MSL. The normal pool elevation comes in around 1,665.0 feet MSL.
"Almost half of Ohl Reservoir storage is above the current level and is typical of most reservoirs," the report states.
It further notes the reservoir has about 80 days of usable storage available at current levels. This is up 10 days from a previous report.
Keller Reservoir in McElhattan is at its normal pool volume of 92,400,000 gallons. With both reservoir levels combined, the report said usable storage is about 200 days based on current demand.
With these numbers in mind, City Manager Gregory Wilson told council on Monday night that he received an email from the Central Clinton County Water Filtration Authority's Chief Operator, Leonard Young, Jr., regarding the implementation of a temporary water source.
The temporary water source, a set of groundwater wells in Wayne Township, were initially planned for use when the city begins its upgrades to Keller. Currently, upgrades are being made at Ohl to meet DEP requirements.
When a state of emergency was declared regarding low water levels at Ohl in 2023, council, Suburban Water Authority representatives and others involved in the system, agreed to tap into the wells early and connect them to the system in the event a secondary source was needed to supply water to customers.
The letter from Young indicated the filtration authority wanted to meet with council to discuss a plan of action now that Ohl's levels have begun to climb.
Rich Marcinkavage, a member of the filtration authority, attended Monday's meeting on behalf of Young to offer further explanation on the request.
"The letter doesn't say it shouldn't be pursued, it says that at this point in time there is not a need to implement the temporary water source," Marcinkavage said. "So long as the Keller dam is full, there's no need to pump additional water into the system."
Marcinkavage said that if the city were to implement the water source now, with cold weather it would have to commit to keeping the water flowing "either intermittently or to keep the chlorine residual in the piping or possibly continuously to keep things from freezing."
"As long as Keller dam is full and Ohl reservoir is filling naturally there's no need to put additional water in the system," he continued.
If council were to agree to not implement the water source, Marcinkavage noted it would save on costs for generator rentals, power costs and other items needed.
"The suggestion is not that you don't go ahead with the temporary water source, but don't implement that until it's necessary," he said. "It won't become necessary unless conditions change."
Marcinkavage noted that Keller has remained full for most of the month and that Ohl has seen improvements as well.
"So the reason for requesting the meeting is to talk about how to move forward. Decide at what point in time, what kind of threshold that'll have to implement a source and whether or not you will," he said. "We should be able to come up with a timeframe on when you need to put in final connections and get it ready to go."
Marcinkavage said another reason the filtration authority requested the meeting is to discuss operational and permitting issues.
Council member Barb Masorti asked Wilson if the Suburban Water Authority or the Lock Haven City Authority were included in correspondence regarding the meeting. She noted when the city first chose to implement the temporary source in 2023.
Wilson said he did include Suburban Water in his reply to Young.
Marcinkavage said he didn't believe it was necessary for all the entities to be involved in the conversation, particularly regarding the operation and permitting issues.
"It's not something everybody needs to be involved in," he said.
Wilson said he proposed a meeting date for 6 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 22, before council's regular meeting and was waiting to hear back from members of council and Young about the date.