The Corbett administration has exercised the poor-mouth option in regard to finding money for the repair of Glade Run Lake.

In response, the Glade Run Lake Conservancy has sprung up to try to raise the estimated $4.2 million needed to restore the dam at the popular Butler County outdoors destination. As of late July, the conservancy had raised just $40,000 of that goal.

But now, according to an article in the Aug. 3 edition of the bimonthly newspaper Pennsylvania Outdoor News, the secret has been exposed that Pennsylvania is not really as poor as it claims to be.

While Pennsylvania allegedly was too financially strapped to allocate any funds this year for bringing back Glade Run, the 2012-13 capital budget signed by Gov. Tom Corbett on June 30 includes $6.4 million to repair the dam that creates the 106-acre Speedwell Forge Lake near Lititz in Lancaster County.

The lake, which Pennsylvania Outdoor News says is “immensely popular among boaters and anglers,” is owned by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.

As with the Glade Run Lake Conservancy, a grass-roots organization, Save Speedwell, formed to raise money for the repair effort.

According to the newspaper, Speedwell Forge Lake’s dam was damaged by heavy flooding from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee last fall. Because of the structural problems with the dam, the Fish and Boat Commission said it was forced to drain the lake to protect houses downstream.

As with Glade Run, when the plan was announced to drain Speedwell Forge, the commission said the agency didn’t have the money to fix the dam, and the agency said it had no idea if or when the lake might be restored.

Apparently, Lancaster County lawmakers wield much more political clout in Harrisburg than Butler County’s legislative delegation, since Speedwell Forge Lake ended up getting money and Glade Run didn’t.

Also, it so happens that Robert Bachman, Fish and Boat Commission past president, lives just a few miles from Speedwell.

In response to the Speedwell allocation, state Rep. John Bear, of Lititz, told a Lancaster newspaper that “Speedwell Forge is a tremendous asset to our community. . . . We’re all ecstatic that we were able to work together to help out the community.”

Bear and fellow lawmaker Rep. Tom Creighton, whose district includes Speedwell Forge Lake, were the legislators who pushed their colleagues to set aside the needed money to have the dam repaired and the lake refilled.

In a news release issued after Corbett signed the 2012-13 budget, Creighton said, “I would like to extend a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to my colleagues in the House for sticking with me to make this happen.”

Apparently his appreciation extends to the members of the Butler County delegation, who apparently spoke not a word of protest — at least not in any public forum reported on locally — that so much money was available for the Lancaster County lake but not a penny was available for Glade Run.

An editorial in the July 25 Butler Eagle noted the fact that not only is the Glade Run Conservancy trying to tap any possible source of local funds, large and small, but the group is expanding its reach for funds, soliciting donations from large corporations in Pittsburgh and conducting research on possible sources for grants.

While all that is great — the conservancy should continue to work on those paths — Glade Run supporters must begin applying pressure on legislators to find money to restore Butler County’s asset.

If Butler County lawmakers aren’t embarrassed over their lack of clout regarding this issue, they ought to be — even though at the same time it must be acknowledged that there isn’t enough money available to address all needs.

Throughout the 2012-13 budget preparation, state residents were given the bad news of how difficult it would be to achieve a balanced spending plan amid Corbett’s commitment not to raise taxes.

Now, to their chagrin, Butler County residents have learned that the state really wasn’t as financially strapped as it claimed to be, and that this county’s lawmakers towed the Republican party line without making waves on behalf of Glade Run Lake.

Those facts are central to the secret that was in play when Corbett signed the new budget close to midnight on June 30.