As the old saying attributed to Mark Twain goes: “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over.” And so it went in Michigan in 2014 when Republican Governor Rick Snyder directed his appointed cronies in the city of Flint to change water resources from Lake Huron to the nearby Flint River in order to save money. The rest of the story is available online through multiple news media websites.
There is a moral to this story. Elected politicians who don’t know anything about state and federal water quality standards or potable water resources and groundwater management best practices shouldn’t attempt to hijack public drinking water system operations or dictate cost saving measures when they don’t understand the potential risks to public health. Gov. Snyder appealed to president Obama to declare a federal emergency in Flint, Mich. in order to help finance and restore a potable drinking water system that the governor destroyed, thereby causing lead poisoning and causing permanent brain and neurological damage to untold numbers of children and others, due to the governor’s reckless and irresponsible executive decision.
The money-saving action that Gov. Snyder took will now cost the state of Michigan potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in potable infrastructure construction, healthcare costs and undoubtedly law suits. Many people believe the governor should go to jail for his calculated and premeditated political agenda that has harmed the entire population of Flint, Michigan.
It is unlikely that such a thing could happen here in San Benito County because the San Benito County Water District, the Sunnyslope County Water District and the City of Hollister formed a strategic partnership to invest in potable water infrastructure and surface water treatment plants in order to improve tap water quality to much of Hollister. For more information about that collaborative effort click here: http://hollisterwaterproject.com/
Local water managers are well educated and experienced potable water system operators and civil engineers who are experts in water treatment plant operation, water distribution system operation and maintenance and capital project management who have worked hard to obtain available grant funding to help reduce the impact of water rates to their customers.
The future of San Benito County’s watershed management and potable water system is being managed and operated by experienced professionals. Fortunately for our community, there is no reckless and irresponsible elected official capable of dictating water resource policy in order to save costs which has the potential to poison our drinking water.Â
Below are some resources to browse about federal and state water quality standards.
http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/history-clean-water-act
http://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-safe-drinking-water-act
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/drinking_water/safedrinkingwaterplan/index.shtml