City of Lebanon Authority launches first water supply study since 2014

This article was funded by LebTown donors as part of our Civic Impact Reporting Project.

The City of Lebanon Authority’s water supply study is underway with investigation of whether the authority’s safe yield needs to be updated.

Safe yield refers to how much water can be withdrawn from the Swatara Creek and the Siegrist Reservoir without depleting them during what would be worst case drought conditions, CoLA executive director Tom Deitzler said at Monday’s board meeting.

CoLA’s safe yield currently is 7 million gallons per day (mgd). The authority is permitted to withdraw 11 mgd from Swatara Creek and Siegrist Reservoir, with its treatment plant permitted to treat 10 mgd. Usage averages 6.5 mgd, Deitzler told LebTown.

In April, the board approved a water supply study to identify additional sources of water to meet future growth and demand. The study is being conducted by engineering firm Black & Veatch’s Charlotte, North Carolina, team.

CoLA last updated its safe yield in 2014. An updated safe yield will indicate whether CoLA needs to look for additional water sources, said Deitzler in the interview.

“We could also use the safe yield to help determine total water capacity available for sale as well as to update our drought contingency plan for how we encourage customers to reduce their usage,” he said.

As of May 29, Lebanon County was in a drought watch with voluntary water reduction requested, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

According to CoLA’s precipitation records from June 1978 through 2025, the county annually averages 47.49 inches of rain. The year with the lowest amount of precipitation was 1980 when only slightly more than 30 inches of rain fell.

In a related matter, Black & Veatch is finishing up a water systems modeling study begun last fall, Deitzler told the board. This study is examining how to increase transmission capacity from the reservoir to the treatment plant as well as how to enhance transmission and storage capacities throughout the water distribution system.

Deitzler also reported that all 3,600 MXU units for meter reading have been installed. Next is installing new meter reading software.

In his monthly update of CoLA’s ongoing lead service line inventory, Deitzler said there are 2,135 lines of unknown material on the portion of the service line from the main to the curb stop that is the authority’s responsibility. On the customer or property owner’s side, there are 6,579 lines of unknown material.

In other business, the board:

• Awarded a contract for $57,940 to A.P. Aungst of Pine Grove to pave the stone driveway at Sandhill Reservoir.
• Ratified payment of May invoices more than $10,000, totaling $1,974,504.12.
• Approved the authority’s Right-to-Know Law policy.
• Held an executive session to discuss a personnel issue and a potential property acquisition.

The CoLA Board meets at 2311 Ridgeview Road, Lebanon, on the second Monday of each month at 3 p.m. The next meeting will be Monday, July 13. These meetings are open to the public and do not require registration.