Tony Donovan, chair of Sierra Club's Maine chapter, spoke at a Maine Legislature public hearing on March 22 in support of LD 422, which will create a Maine water trust to regulate and protect the state's water supply and to ensure the quality and quantity of drinking water here.
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Tony Donovan's testimony:
"Senator Woodsome, Representative Berry, and Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Energy, Utilities and Technology: My name is Tony Donovan, Portland resident, commercial realtor and current Chair of the Maine chapter of the Sierra Club.The Sierra Club is North America’s oldest and largest environmental advocacy organization. Sierra Club Maine is made up entirely of volunteers, a fact we take great pride in.
We express our sincere appreciation to State Representative Mike Sylvester for his commitment to the protection of water quality and human health in Maine. We ask that this Committee pass LD 422 on to the full legislature as Ought to Pass.
Water is one of Maine’s most valuable natural resources.
Recognizing that water is basic to all life and seeking to ensure sustainability of water resources and natural ecosystems, to protect water quality, to promote environmental justice and democratic decision- making, and to prevent domination of water resources and municipal water/sewer services by transnational corporations and other powerful private interests, The Sierra Club adopted a policy on water in 2003 that is more relevant than ever to today’s discussion on LD 422.
Proper management of water is essential so that present and future generations may survive and flourish. To promote proper management for a healthful and aesthetically pleasing natural environment, the Sierra Club adopted the following Water Policy:
- Thorough water inventories, including historic water yields and uses, should be conducted of all water resources of environmental importance, with priority where substantial demands are anticipated.
- Laws should take into account the physical interrelationship of ground and surface water. Rights in both sources of supply should be integrated, and their management should be coordinated. The available water in a basin should be managed on a sustained-yield basis and it should be determined the optimum useful life of the aquifer and control withdrawals accordingly. Projects and proposals should be stopped if they would significantly damage aquifers.
- Programs should be pursued to reduce water consumption, and promote water recycling. Allocations, building codes, metering, and pricing should aim to encourage conservation. All water users, including beneficiaries of federal water projects, should pay the full cost of water deliveries. States should have comprehensive water conservation plans.
- An adequate water quality data base must be developed and existing quality higher than federal standards must be preserved. The Clean Water Act should be aggressively enforced by all agencies with water management responsibilities and should not be weakened.
- Water resource public works funding priorities should be shifted to those projects and programs that would conserve existing water supplies. These would include municipal pipeline maintenance and leak repair, and other structural and nonstructural conservation measures.
- Public Oversight - There should be full disclosure of and access to all information material to a full and fair evaluation of any transfer proposal. Appropriate mechanisms for ongoing public oversight of any transferred facilities must be provided so as to assure compliance with the terms and conditions of the transfer.
- Water Management - Water withdrawals for commercial use, water diversions and public provision/treatment of water should be managed by accountable, representative, public bodies for public and ecological benefit. Commercial uses that result in permanent removal of water from a watershed or aquifer should not violate the ecological integrity of the watershed or aquifer or otherwise violate the public trust. Such uses should have thorough environmental and social review with provision for meaningful public input reflecting the economic and social diversity of the impacted communities.
- Drinking Water - National and local laws, regulations and pricing should be put in place and enforced to ensure sufficient quantities of safe and affordable drinking water for all inhabitants and to ensure the health of the planet's ecological systems.
- Privatization of Municipal Water/Sewer Systems - Municipal water/sewer systems are essential public services and should not be privatized by transferring ownership from the public sector to a commercial entity or by allowing extensions of public systems to be owned by a commercial entity. Water is a public resource, not a commodity. Public policy must ensure the sustainability of safe water supplies for the benefit of all people and the natural environment. All water resources, including the oceans, must be protected as a public trust so that commercial use of water does not diminish public or ecological benefits. Access to clean, sufficient and affordable drinking water is a human right necessary for human health and survival. This right must be protected by government policies and international agencies, consistent with ensuring access to safe and adequate quantities of water resources for all life on the planet and sustainability of these resources. The Sierra Club urges your support of LD 422."