A proposal by local developers to draw water from a decommissioned reservoir in Ransom Twp. to sell to natural gas drilling companies is scheduled for a vote in mid-December.
Falling Springs Water Works Inc. applied for a permit to draw up to 800,000 gallons a day from the mountaintop Falling Springs Reservoir near the border of Ransom and Duryea. The reservoir is privately owned by Falling Springs Holdings, which is creating a housing development on a 340-acre parcel that includes the 50-acre reservoir off Red Oak Drive.
The water withdrawal proposal is being considered by the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, which regulates water quantity in the interstate watershed. It is tentatively scheduled for action at a Dec. 14 business meeting. Written public comments on the water withdrawal application will be accepted by the SRBC until Monday.
The developers propose to use the water for bulk sale to Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers operating in Luzerne, Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties, according to the application submitted in September.
Carlo Santarelli, president of the company, said the group has no immediate plans to develop the water withdrawal site but wanted to secure the permit for potential future use.
Any withdrawal site would have to be designed to avoid affecting the scenic character of the housing development, he said. "Obviously, we wouldn't want to endanger the success of our development."
Like all third-party companies in the basin that intend to sell water to natural gas operators, Falling Springs will have to submit a letter of commitment from a driller that wants to purchase it before the project can move forward, SRBC spokeswoman Susan Obleski said.
If approved, the water withdrawal site will be the second in Lackawanna County dedicated to natural gas development.
Linde Corp. has had a permit to withdraw 905,000 gallons per day from the Lackawanna River in Fell Twp. since December 2010.
The commission has approved about 150 surface withdrawal sites for natural gas development in the 27,500-square-mile basin. About 45 of the surface withdrawal points are in Lackawanna, Susquehanna and Wyoming counties.
Contact the writer: llegere@timesshamrock.com