CITIZEN GROUPS CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE

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PREVENTION AND THE SOLE-SOURCE AQUIFER

In the last issue of MOTHER, we discussed the pollution of our nation's drinking water by toxic chemicals, and listed the major federal regulations that were created to insure potable supplies. And, as we noted then, the Safe Drinking Water Act is one of the most important of these pieces of legislation .. . and one of its most powerful clauses is the sole-source aquifer section. To put it briefly, this states that ground water that is the only supply of drinking water for a significant population can be defined as such by code . . . and that classification will prohibit the development of any federally funded activity that might jeopardize the aquifer's quality.

The Biscayne Aquifer, for example, is the major source of drinking water for the Florida counties of Broward, Dade, and (parts of) Palm Beach. The ground water there has been threatened by chemical contamination, by saltwater intrusion from the Atlantic Ocean, and by indiscriminate development in the areas from which the aquifer is recharged with surface water. Members of the Environmental Coalition of Broward County and the Friends of the Everglades began to move to protect the aquifer in 1980, and held meetings and conferences (at which volumes of expert testimony were introduced) in 1981. The edited proceedings of these forums were then published in the Handbook on the Biscayne Aquifer, which became the primary piece of evidence for a successful application for a solesource aquifer designation. Up in New Jersey, the Passaic River Coalition worked closely with local government to gain its support for a sole-source aquifer designation.

By including the officials at every step, and by bringing in expert hydrologic testimony from scientists, the group was able to convince those in power that protection of their ground water resources was important, possible, and practical.

To date, aquifers on Cape Cod, Long Island, and Guam . . . and near San Antonio, Texas and Spokane, Washington have also received sole-source designations. What's more, 25 others are pending . . . all of them the result of citizens' taking environmental matters into their own hands!

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