Protect the drinking water supply of 4.3 million DC Area residents

The fate of Ten Mile Creek in upper Montgomery County, MD is of utmost concern to 4.3 million people in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. This creek feeds our backup water supply and is in imminent danger of being seriously polluted.

John Muir said, "Nothing dollarable is safe," and that is certainly true of the Ten Mile Creek. Several developers want to build a huge number of homes and businesses (such as outlet malls) in this watershed. The science - see the reports on the Save Ten Mile Creek Coalition web site (www.savetenmilecreek.com) - says that ANY development in the Ten Mile Creek watershed will pollute Little Seneca Reservoir.

The Ten Mile Creek watershed feeds the Little Seneca Reservoir which is the emergency water supply for 4.3 million residents in the Washington, D.C. area. Following are the water authorities and people served by this reservoir:

-Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC) serves about 1.8 million people in Montgomery County and Prince George's County.
-Washington Aqueduct serves about 1 million people in Washington, D.C., Arlington County, the city of Falls Church, and part of Fairfax County (particularly McLean).
-Fairfax County Water Authority (FCWA) serves about 1.5 million people in Fairfax County, Alexandria, Prince William County, and Loudoun County.

A public hearing will be held on Dec. 3, 2013 after which the Montgomery County Council will vote on how much development to allow in the Ten Mile Creek watershed.

Please see this Post Op-Ed: http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/montgomery-county-rolls-the-dice-with-the-regions-water-system/2013/11/15/e5da68c2-4d64-11e3-9890-a1e0997fb0c0_story.html