Potential Water Shortages Halt Construction in Middletown, Maryland

On July 8, 2004, the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) imposed a moratorium on the issuance of building permits in Middletown, a community of 3,000 just west of Frederick. The cause of this action was concern that the town’s water supply is inadequate to satisfy both existing and proposed development.

This is the second time in three years that such a ban has been imposed in Maryland; the first time was during one of the worst droughts in state history, when Frederick imposed its own ban, according to a July 10, 2004 article in the