Water supply policies need a closer look

Newport Daily News Editorial     
April 1, 2008

Problems with local stormwater and wastewater systems have been a hot topic on this page for the past several years.

But what about our drinking water?

That equally important topic will be the focus of a public forum Wednesday night at the Community College of Rhode Island’s Newport campus.

“Our Water Future: Rhode Island and Aquidneck Island” is the title of the forum, sponsored by the Coalition for Water Security, a group of environmental and economic organizations throughout the state, and the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission.

The importance of clean water to the economy and environment to the island and the state — and how to manage water supplies — will be explored through two panel discussions and a question-and-answer session.

“Healthy and clean rivers and streams not only provide our drinking water, but also support fisheries, recreation, tourism and economic development,” said Sheila Dormody, the coalition’s coordinator.

The Coalition for Water Security has introduced legislation to provide a framework for managing water in Rhode Island, after determining that the state has no system in place to protect stream flows, no way of coordinating withdrawals from a single watershed and no regulations to ensure that water is used efficiently.

The proposal would require the state Department of Environmental Management to determine the amount of water necessary to maintain healthy streams. That would determine a baseline for the state’s water budget. Then the Water Resources Board would need to allocate that water among competing uses, giving priority to essential household uses and the efficient use of water by industrial and commercial interests, including agriculture.

The first panel, comprised of representatives of the Coalition for Water Security, including Ted Clement of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, will explore what policies will provide a safe and reliable water supply to meet current needs, reduce waste, provide for economic growth and protect our rivers and streams.

Managing local water resources also will be discussed. Aquidneck Island will be the focus of the second panel, which will include Keith W. Stokes, executive director of the Newport County Chamber of Commerce; Julia A. Forgue, Newport’s director of utilities; Jesse Rodrigues, owner of Rhode Island Nurseries; and Joanne Galuska from the Department of Public Works at Naval Station Newport.

Newport’s system, which depends on local freshwater reservoirs, provides water to residents and businesses in the city and neighboring Middletown and sells water to Portsmouth and Naval Station Newport.

With pressing regulatory requirements and millions of dollars in infrastructure needs facing the system, proposals have surfaced in recent years to establish a regional water authority or, alternately, to privatize the utility. (In fact, as a story on today’s front page reports, the city has hired a consulting firm to study such options.)

Wednesday’s forum sounds like a good way to start to explore those questions and many others we’re sure elected officials and water users — whether homeowners or business owners — would like to ask.

 

 

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