Upgrading Permit #GA1992S009
On April 1, 2019, according to MDE Water Appropriations Permit ##GA1992S009 (08), a new Permit must be signed by Brookfield Inc. in order for the latter to continue operating the Deep Creek Hydroelectric Project.
The conditions listed in the current Permit, signed on June 11, 2011, are almost exclusively geared towards specifying when water releases from Deep Creek Lake are allowed for white-water rafting and maintaining the flow in the Youghiogheny river such that stocked trout can survive and be available to the fishing community.
Nowhere in the permit is there any mention regarding the rights of those that own property around Deep Creek Lake whose interest are in the water levels that affected by the water releases via reduced water levels and consequently boating access.
An argument could be made that the rule bands protect the lake property owners, but there have been numerous cases in the past that insufficient water is retained in the lake above the lower rule band to allow recreational boating activities.
The issue is exacerbated by the fact that lake property owners pay more than 50% of the total tax revenue to the county, while the fishing and white-water rafting communities are not able to quantify their contributions which is generally thought to be small in comparison.
Therefore, the current permit needs to be changed significantly to redress such inequalities
This part of the website is dedicated to citizen efforts to define a more equitable permit.
WAM, A Water Allocation Methodology
WAM is the acronym for “water allocation methodology.” WAM is based on Morgan France's concept of developing a ‘forecasting’ approach that accounts for the variability of the water in Deep Creek Lake using the water that's available between the current lake level and the lower rule band.
The author of this website has written numerals articles and developed a variety of algorithms to prove the possibility of this approach.
Starting with this page these articles can be accessed, including their supporting literature and the data used to develop the ideas. All are from available on the Internet.
One starts HERE. with the various articles.
WAM should be used everyday, in an automated fashion, to define a tentative release schedule for the next week, or preferably, the next several weeks, from the day of the forecast. This in itself should be a great boon to white water rafters and fisherman because better planning is facilitated.
The link below provides access to my version of the predictive methodology, particularly all of the data that will play a role and various issues of development and validation. Be sure to check this out. Much of it has been made available in digital form for the first time.
