The 2011 Schuylkill Watershed Congress- March 12, 2011 Presentation by Mr. Brian Oram

The 2011 Schuylkill Watershed CongressSaturday, March 12th,Montgomery County Community College Pottstown, Pennsylvania


The Schuylkill Watershed Congress is an annual gathering of citizens interested in understanding, protecting and restoring local watersheds and streams. This event features a diverse program with concurrent and poster sessions covering a broad range of watershed topics.

This year’s program features 28 concurrent sessions and 7 poster sessions covering a broad range of watershed topics:

* Drinking Water Protection
* Hands-On Macroinvertebrate Identification
* Meeting With Legislators
* Natural Gas Drilling
* Restoration Case Studies
* Water Monitoring
* Green Infrastructure
* Abandoned Mine Drainage Treatment System
* Illegal Dumpsite Clean-up
* Working with Volunteers


During this Conference , I presented the following: "Getting the Waters Tested- The Marcellus Shale Factor".  The presentation included information on geology, hydrology, the available groundwater data in the Citizens Groundwater Database for a portion of the study area, concepts for baseline testing, and much more.     The main topic was how citizens can be part of this effort to document current conditions and ultimately help to track changes.

During the talk, we also discussed issues with the following:

1. Production water management

2. Water Management Issues - ie. accuracy of flow monitoring and importance of tracking waste cradle to grave.

3. Need for using degraded water sources as an alternative to clean freshwater - sources may include mine drainage, treated wastewater, stormwater, and designing drilling pads to be rainwater capture systems to reduce the need for hauling, or other well stimulation methods.

4. We also discussed the importance of casing installation and cementing and need for pre and post-drilling monitoring.  We discussed the low cost informational and education services for Wilkes University and how this may be a cost effective alternative to screen private wells post drilling.

5. Finally we discussed the problem that many private well are currently contaminated prior to drilling and may act as conduits to cause contamination to migrate and facilitate groundater contamination.
6. Using Sourcewater Protection and not "feel good" un-enforceable ordinances (My opinion)to help to protect and manage are surfacewater and groundwater resources.

A copy of my presentation can be found in a pdf format at the Water Research Center