Trashing the place

It seems that what we are seeing now is a mad rush to trash the house before leaving it (we can only hope). Wisconsin Republicans are rushing through many bills that will forever change the state's environment - from allowing development in sensitive areas to letting our clean water be sucked dry without any way to stop it.

Please read and respond to this plea from the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. If we are doomed to a hotter, drier planet, giving a green light to sell off our precious water to the highest bidder seems a climate stupid thing to do (to say the least). - cathy

http://conservationvoters.org/act-now/#/15

ACT NOW: Stop Death by a Thousand Straws

 

We need your help right now to make sure Wisconsin’s groundwater crisis doesn’t get worse.

 

You’ve heard us talk about water problems in the Central Sands of Wisconsin, where over 3,000 wells each pump as much as 100,000 gallons of groundwater per day. These wells are literally making lakes, rivers, and drinking water wells run dry – it’s death by a thousand straws for our groundwater.

 

A recently introduced bill, Senate Bill 239/Assembly Bill 874, does more than leave us without solutions – it actually makes our groundwater problem worse by locking the door on future fixes and throwing away the key!

 

SB 239/AB 874 would grant "forever permits," allowing major water users to continue guzzling large quantities of water in perpetuity. Once a property has a permit to pump, the Department of Natural Resources wouldn’t be able to revisit those permits, even when over pumping is impacting lakes, rivers, and drinking water wells. It’s truly ‘till death do us part.

 

Wisconsin must have the ability to review all the "straws in the drink" and manage the water so that our rivers, lakes, wetlands, and drinking water are protected. After all, groundwater provides drinking water for 70% of Wisconsin citizens, supplies water for industries and businesses in 97% of Wisconsin communities, sources nearly all crop irrigation, and sustains springs, lakes, and rivers.

 

Take action now, and help us make sure Death by a Thousand Straws doesn’t become law.