 |
The water supply intake at Little Falls.
This photo was taken in a drought year when the water was
at its lowest level.
|
CO-OP Section
The Section for Cooperative Water Supply Operations of the Interstate
Commission on the Potomac River Basin (CO-OP) was created to coordinate
water supply operation of the three independent
water suppliers in the Washington D.C. area during times of
drought. CO-OP makes releases from regional reservoirs to ensure
that minimum environmental flow requirements and water supply withdrawals
can be met. In non drought years, CO-OP works closely with member
utilities to conduct annual drought
preparedness exercises to keep operations crisp.
Future challenges for the section include evaluating water supply
alternatives for meeting future demands, monitoring ongoing drought
conditions and status, and developing improved modeling and
analysis tools for the Potomac watershed including field
data collection.
Groundwater
A basin-wide groundwater assessment
has been initiated to evaluate the availability of groundwater resources
in the Potomac River basin. This project is being carried out in
close cooperation with the USGS and includes the installation of
real-time monitoring equipment at groundwater wells throughout the
basin as well as database development and data analysis work.
|
