By Jean Braithwaite
Tribune Correspondent

KEYSER -  Keyser City Hall was crowded on Monday evening with people from all over the county, including representatives from the area Public Service Districts, as well as agencies such as the Mineral County Development Authority, Chamber of Commerce, and Health Department, along with elected officials from municipalities.
All those present were at the Town/County Forum to hear about the preliminary water resource study conducted in the Knobley Mountain area by West Virginia University graduate student Kevin Rega, in addition to being informed of funding to help assist with a further in-depth study.
Viewed by the audience was a PowerPoint presentation conducted by Rega, as he explained three goals created from the water study.
Stating that that one goal was to produce a water budget, Rega mentioned, “This is measuring the amount of water going in and coming out.”
According to Rega, also included in the series of goals pertaining to the water supply in the county is to “determine the flow path, and develop and publish the results of the information that is meaningful to the public.”
He stated that as he studied the wells and documented their locations in the Knobley Mountain area, “it was a glimpse beneath the surface.”
Telling those present at the meeting that Knobley Mountain has “a lot of water clear to Grayson’s Gap,” Rega then stated that the amount could be possibly “incorporated into a Public Service District.”
Also speaking on behalf of the resource study was Dr. Joe Donovan of the West Virginia University Hydrology Research Center, who gave his version of a law concerning water. “Donovan’s Law is that all ground water comes from somewhere and goes somewhere.”
Donovan said, “The water supply in this county needs a physical and then have the results open to the public for discussion.”
County Commissioner Wayne Spiggle responded by saying that until recently he took the water supply
for granted, but now, “we need to protect what we have and use it wisely for the future.”
With the future in mind, Donovan stated that to continue with a complete water resources study, “the county needs to develop a base of information and come up with a clear understanding of where the water supply is located.”
He also stated  that the base line investigation could take at long as two to three years to complete, with a survey of the location of springs to be “started now while vegetation growth is low.”
To continue with the ongoing water resource study within the county, County Coordinator Mike Bland announced that he has been working with the State Department of Health and Human Resources to seek a source of funding for this project.
He revealed that recent notification from the DHHR was received by the county officials that the sum of just over $92,000 has been designated to assist with the water study.