Letter to the Editor:

In response to the article titled “Citizens unite against Artesian plans” printed April 23, 2014, Artesian Water Company is compelled to correct certain misstatements of fact made by Mr. Waggoner, president of the Save Our Water Committee, at an April 17 meeting held by the Committee.

The statement that Artesian is “starting to run short on water, and it's serious enough now that in 2013, they were told to come up with a comprehensive plan to tell how they're going to supply water to Delaware” is a complete fabrication. The fact is that Artesian has an abundant supply of water available to serve its Delaware customers. In Delaware, water providers serving in northern New Castle County are required by the state to certify that they have a sufficient supply of water to meet customer demand in a drought of record without initiating water use restrictions. And, any new sources of water from outside of Delaware cannot be considered as available supply for purposes of the certification. Artesian has met this requirement every time since the requirement was enacted in 2003, and we have no concern with our ability to continue to meet the requirement. To be clear, Artesian does not have any shortage of water to serve its Delaware customers.

It is also important to note that any allocation of water from the Broad Run well for use by Artesian must be approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP). Artesian has conducted a pump test of the Broad Run well that will provide real data on the possible impact, if any, of its well on any neighboring wells. The PADEP allocation process is in place to ensure water is used in a sustainable manner without harm to others.

Artesian has been serving the New Garden Township community of Broad Run since 1995 with water provided from its Delaware system. We look forward to being able to serve that community, and other future New Garden Township communities, with water from our Broad Run well as a second source for additional reliability.

Dian C. Taylor

Chair, President & CEO

Artesian Resources Corporation