An environmental group on Thursday asked Westmoreland County commissioners to ban the removal of water by fracking companies from Beaver Run Reservoir during periods of drought.

Gillian Graber, executive director of Protect PT, a nonprofit citizen environmental group, said the concerns were brought to the commissioners after similar requests made to the Municipal Authority of Westmoreland County were unsuccessful. The authority operates the reservoir.

“They should impose a mandate that restricts water withdrawals for consumptive uses during drought,” she said.

Beaver Run Reservoir, when full, holds about 11.4 billion gallons. Spread over Bell and Washington townships, it serves the northern half of MAWC’s system, according to the authority website. The authority also uses water from the Youghiogheny River.

In 2023, water levels at the reservoir dipped after an extended lack of precipitation. A drought watch issued by the National Weather Service prompted MAWC officials to issue a voluntary, and later mandatory, conservation order to some of its customers.

The initial conservation order in November 2023 also temporarily banned two energy companies that operate deep natural gas wells on the reservoir from removing water for their fracking operations. Em Hough, Mountain Watershed Association community organizer, pointed to that move as an example.

“That was a great step for water conservation, but we are asking them to take a logical, commonsense approach and make this one-time decree a permanent rule that is applied automatically and immediately whenever a drought watch or warning is declared,” Hough said.

It was unclear if the Westmoreland County commissioners have any control over the municipal authority’s operations.

The commissioners appoint members to the authority’s board of directors. The county does not provide any funding. The MAWC director did not return a message Thursday.

Commissioner Sean Kertes said he hadn’t talked with authority members or officials about drought-specific operations.

“I need to talk to them to understand,” he said.

Commissioner Ted Kopas said he thought it was a worthwhile conversation to have with the authority.

“Probably the most powerful part to me was the rest of us are all being asked to make accommodations,” he said, referring to the conservation order. “I think it’s only fair that the industry should be the same way.”

In March 2024, environmental groups held a community meeting to lay out recommendations about reservoir water withdrawal that they hoped the MAWC will consider. Temporarily prohibiting fracking-related water withdrawals from the reservoir at the same time customers are asked to conserve was one of the recommendations.

Protect PT and Voice of Westmoreland held a rally Thursday morning outside the Greensburg courthouse before the commissioners meeting.