CUMBERLAND — How much is a mile of clean water worth?

An economic impact study jointly funded by Garrett County, state agencies and the Appalachian Region Commission aims to find out. The results will update an outdated University of Maryland study from nearly 20 years ago “that showed each fishable stream mile was worth thousands,” said Joe Mills, a natural resources planner with the state Department of the Environment’s Bureau of Mines.

Bureau officials began a comprehensive effort in 1988 to neutralize acidic waterways in Mountain Maryland. Currently, there are 10 lime dosers, or active sites, and 22 passive systems in Garrett and Allegany counties along the North Branch of the Potomac River and Georges Creek. The program could do more but needs to identify additional funding sources to do so. The study, said acid mine drainage section chief Connie Loucks, could help decision makers choose to find money for additional remediation projects.

“I think that’s the outcome we hope the study will help us with,” Loucks said from her Frostburg office. “We’re running out of money to operate and maintain our system. We can get government money to build” but not for operational and maintenance expenses.

Loucks said it’d be a shame if the progress made in the North Branch was unable to continue. That section of the Potomac River was reported as “dead” at one point but “we’ve seen such incredible recovery in the North Branch.”

“For the money that’s being spent operating, the benefit is well beyond what the cost is,” Loucks said.

The results of the study could impact local quarries as well. The Bureau of Mines currently buys base rocks to combat acidic waterways from quarries in Barton and Friendsville.

Jim Hinebaugh, Garrett County director of economic development, said Garrett County resident Neil Jacobs, who lives along the Youghiogheny River, alerted county officials to the funding problem.

“He asked for our help in trying to pull together some money to do a study to evaluate the economic impact and benefit of treatment of remediation of acid mine drainage,” Hinebaugh said.

Hinebaugh contacted officials at the Maryland Department of Planning. The ARC verbally committed $20,000 to the study. Garrett County agreed to $5,000, the Bureau of Mines allocated $9,000 and the state Department of Natural Resources approved $6,000.

Officials will award the contract for the study on a competitive basis, Hinebaugh said. Once awarded, a draft study could be available within four months, with a final report within six months — just in time for the kickoff of the legislative session in January.

“Determining the economic benefits of clean, acid-free streams will provide the region with documented evidence of the program,” the draft project summary said. “Tourism is the No. 1 industry in the region and this program directly enhances that industry.”

The study’s results “will benefit the entire Potomac Highlands watershed, which includes Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia and the District of Columbia along with the Chesapeake Bay,” according to the summary.

Loucks said the acid mine remediation program costs $550,000 annually. Flat funding limits the program’s ability to expand.

Mills said that approximately 82 miles of streams have been improved. A study from the 1970s showed that some 450 miles of streams were impaired by deep mining activities. Mills said about 47 of those 82 miles have been returned as a fishery.

Contact Kevin Spradlin at kspradlin@times-news.com.