The Water Resources Planning Act of 2002 (Act 220) mandates a 2008 release of Pennsylvania’s new State Water Plan which will answer questions such as how much water we have, how much we use, and how much we need. Complementing the 2008 release of the state plan, Penn State Extension announces the availability of two new educational tools.

Access and Allocation of Water in Pennsylvania, available December 2007, explains the water rights system in Pennsylvania. This publication updates a 1997 version and is authored by Charlie Abdalla, associate professor of agricultural and environmental economics, John Becker, professor of environmental law, and Kristen Saacke Blunk, extension associate in nutrient and water policy. The new publication is designed to help Pennsylvanians understand the basis of water law, questions about user rights, and how water planning may influence the current system of water rights. Access and Allocation of Water in Pennsylvania is available through the College of Agricultural Sciences Publications Distribution Center and online.

The second tool, a quarterly newsletter entitled Water Concepts for Supervisors, targets Pennsylvania’s elected officials. Water Concepts was developed in 2004 by Tom McCarty, extension educator in Cumberland County, as an outreach tool to brief elected officials in the Capital Region about the Water Resources Planning Act, its implications and the myriad issues and opportunities related to the development of the State Water Plan.

Water Concepts is now available to educators outside of the Capital Region to tailor to their own county or region’s elected officials. Each quarter, a template of the newsletter, complete with content, will be available to any educator who wishes to adapt and distribute it to the elected officials in their county. The template format enables Extension educators to integrate information that is unique to their community or it can be used as is with no changes. Educators interested in receiving future quarterly templates are invited to contact Tom McCarty at trm3@psu.edu or (717) 240-6500. Back issues of Water Concepts can be viewed at http://cumberland.extension.psu.edu/NResources/WaterConceptsNewsletter.htm.  
Interestingly, surveys conducted in 2006 by Tom in the Capital Region and Charlie Abdalla on a statewide basis, indicate that municipal officials in the Capital Region appear to have a heightened awareness of the State Water Plan and Water Resources Planning efforts through Act 220. This finding was one factor in the decision to adapt Water Concepts for statewide distribution.