Tami Carlow's Letter to the Editor

Residents of Taylorstown are not happy to hear about the recent "conditional approval" of a subdivision of 79 lots at Waterford Downs along Catoctin Creek, a state scenic river. It's quite simple, this development will take more drinking water and more groundwater from an area that already can't handle it. This will not help the "family" when it comes to the quality and quantity of their future water.

Catoctin Creek is already in trouble with its base flow down by 79 percent since 1930, and many wells in Taylorstown went dry in the drought of 1999.

Who's in charge of protecting this river and our groundwater supply? A USGS study in Loudoun County showed that the water in our well is only five years old. In the not-too-distant future, will we be relying on just rainwater?The term "conditional" sounds suspicious in itself. Who's going to keep the whole process in check? It would benefit the entire community and the family so much more if they decided to put the land into conservation easement. It would benefit Catoctin Creek immensely, and they would get a big tax break. If it were not for a group of Taylorstown residents, Waterford Downs would be under water. In the 1970s, a dam was to be built on the river that would have flooded Taylorstown and surrounding areas. The local citizens stopped that from happening.

Ah, the good old days when citizens' voices were actually heard, and people cared about what happened to the creek and surrounding lands.

Tami Carlow

Taylorstown Community Association president