La Plata’s water system came close to the limit that would set off the town’s new conservation rules, a councilman told the La Plata Planning Commission, and the commission’s departing chair said residents shouldn’t pay the price for the town’s growth decisions.
The exchange came Oct. 6, as the commission voted unanimously to send a water conservation ordinance to the Town Council. Under the ordinance, the town manager could declare a water conservation alert when water production reaches 90% of the town’s permitted capacity for three straight days, or when the state declares a drought emergency.
‘Right up against’ the limit
Councilman Paul C. Guttenberg, the council’s liaison to the commission, said he had asked the town manager earlier that week how often the 90% threshold had been reached.
“What he told me was, just recently, we were right up against, for a day or two at least, that limit,” Guttenberg said.
Guttenberg said the ordinance works on two tracks. A state drought emergency is one. The other, the 90% trigger, is about whether the system can deliver enough water as the town grows. “We could have a trigger based on our system’s capacity that would be unrelated to a drought,” he said.
Planning Director Don Dooley said the Maryland Department of the Environment has told La Plata its groundwater permit will not be expanded. The town’s response has three parts: adequate public facilities standards for water, sewer, school seats and roads, which are already adopted; a supplemental water agreement with Charles County, which the town manager is negotiating; and the conservation ordinance.
‘A failure’ of town government
Chair Dawn Banks, presiding over her last meeting before leaving the commission, pushed back.
“This seems punitive to the residents because of our inability to manage growth and water allocations,” Banks said. “I personally as a resident find it punitive. I did nothing to cause the town to have to limit my water usage. It was a failure of the town government.”
Guttenberg said he agreed residents need to understand why the rules exist. He said a notice in the town newsletter was not enough.
At his suggestion, the commission added language to its resolution urging the council to pair the ordinance with a public education program. Guttenberg said he would ask for a council agenda item on education the same night the ordinance comes before the council.
He pointed to several tools:
- Pre-built public education materials from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
- The town’s new billing system, which can send direct messages and links
- Automated water meters, which Guttenberg said now cover at or near 100% of the system for the first time in a long time and can alert residents to leaks
Banks, who said she spent 35 years at the EPA, agreed the agency has free materials the town could use.
Building infrastructure to match growth
Commissioner Kyle Miller asked what else the town could do beyond outreach.
Guttenberg said the council’s recent priorities retreat put refining the town’s capital improvement plan at the top of the list. “We’ve had a capital improvement plan for years, yet it’s still behind where it needs to be,” he said. Better planning would help the town “avoid the exact scenario we have that would trigger a water alert that is capacity driven.”
Investments in roads, water and sewer should “march along” with the projects the commission and council approve, he said.
Commissioner Emily Whale noted that Maryland has been in a drought warning for 145 days in 2026 without the state imposing restrictions.
In her closing comments, Banks urged the town to look at “the entire spectrum of needs” as it grows: infrastructure, people and resources. She said the town should not “cower behind” the perception that the rules are punitive, but should take its case to residents through leaflets, the library, a website and town events.
Other planning business
Dooley also told the commission that an update to the town’s forest conservation ordinance is waiting on state comments and could return as soon as November. Changes to the TDX zone are expected by the end of the year.
Water supply is a growing issue across the county. Earlier this month, a Charlotte Hall resident questioned the county’s reliance on WSSC water.
