BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Harford County is seeking federal funding to study pooling its water resources with its three municipalities, County Executive David Craig said Thursday.

Since last year, Craig has expressed interest in creating a regional water authority that would combine the public water and sewer systems used by the county, Aberdeen, Bel Air and Havre de Grace. The proposed entity could possibly combine water sources, distribution systems and treatment plants across the county.

Craig and the three mayors met Thursday at the Abingdon Water Treatment Plant — a 14-year-old facility that filters about half the county’s drinking water — to sign an application for a $300,000 grant from the Department of Defense’s Office of Economic Adjustment, which provides money to governments preparing for the military Base Realignment and Closure.

“With the addition and implementation of BRAC to the Harford County region, we know we have to have an additional supply of infrastructure, and that includes roads and water,” Craig said.

If the county gets the grant, officials will hire a consultant to examine the legal and logistical requirements for creating the regional water authority.

The potential addition of thousands of new residents and new facilities at Aberdeen Proving Ground will nearly double the county’s water demand in the next few years to about 50 million gallons per day, said Bob Cooper, public works director.

Plans were already in the works to expand the Abingdon plant. There, Superintendent Talad Said showed off the massive pipes, pumps and tanks treating water from the Loch Raven Reservoir in Baltimore County.

“After BRAC, we had to go and redo our whole plan,” Cooper said.

Combining forces would allow the county and the municipalities to take advantage of “the economies of scale,” Craig said.

msantoni@baltimoreexaminer.com