Keeping the rivers clean and flowing

During the late summer/early fall period, 50 to 70 percent of the water flowing past the Point in Pittsburgh came from our 16 multipurpose reservoirs. This additional water enabled local municipalities and industries within the upper Ohio River basin to draw an estimated 5.8 billion gallons of water per day valued at $202 million. Additional flows from our reservoirs help dramatically improve water quality by diluting pollutants from various sources by 20 to 90 percent, depending on flow conditions, along 1,000 river and stream miles within the basin. In particular, Stonewall Jackson Lake in West Virginia reduced the impact of acid mine drainage and municipal pollution along more than 100 miles of the lower West Fork and upper Monongahela Rivers by more than 50 percent, and Allegheny Reservoir operations improved water quality along more than 200 river miles -- reducing mine drainage, municipal, industrial, and thermal pollution -- on average, by about 20 percent. This means healthier water for consumption, recreation, flora and fauna.