Take Action Today to Protect Vermont's Drinking Water!

For the past few years, VNRC has undertaken exhaustive research about why its so important for Vermont to enact a enact a groundwater protection program. Currently, the state lags behind nearly every other state in the nation to adequately protect our groundwater - two thirds of the state's drinking water. Now is the time for the state to address this problem! Help ensure that happens. Find out more and get involved...
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Protecting Groundwater: The Case for Filling a Gap in Vermont Water Law

VNRC has identified — and been working to fill — a troubling gap in Vermont’s groundwater use laws. The gap is particularly concerning given the intensifying pressure on water use as a result of increased water scarcity and climate change. It is now more important than ever to close the gap in Vermont’s water use laws so that Vermont's groundwater problems do not become more widespread, and that the state protects its underground drinking water resources for current and future generations.
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VNRC's 2008 Groundwater Initiative

For several years VNRC has worked to safeguard the state's groundwater resources – the fresh, cold water that flows beneath our feet – and remove Vermont from its precarious position as one of the last state's in the nation to adequately safeguard this increasingly valuable natural resource. While important steps were taken in the last several years to address this problem, the 2008 legislative session provides Vermont the most important opportunity yet to fill a troubling gap in the state's water law and ensure long-term access to clean, ample supplies of fresh water.
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The Science of Groundwater

To help to understand the science of groundwater protection, VNRC has put together this document outlining the fundamentals of this vital resource. As the source of drinking water for approximately two-thirds of Vermonters, understanding the location, flow and all other elements of the hydrology of groundwater is an important step to a thoughtful response for protecting it. Read all about the science of the fresh water flowing beneath our feet in this comprehensive piece.
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Who Owns Vermont's Water?

The idea that the free flow of the seemingly inexhaustible water resources flowing beneath our feet might be an issue in Vermont — that Vermonters’ wells could run dry — has not crossed many people’s minds. Until recently that is, when the Vermont Natural Resources Council identified and began to raise serious questions about a gap in the state’s water laws.
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Groundwater Protection: An Important Goal Now Within Reach

Vermont is one important step closer to protecting the state’s primary drinking water source. Last week, the governor-appointed groundwater committee agreed with VNRC that Vermont lacks the tools to adequately protect the resource. The committee concluded that Vermont’s underground drinking water supplies lack adequate protection. Read all about last week's turning point in this important discussion - and where Vermont must go from here.
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Vermont Groundwater Factsheet

VNRC’s scientific knowledge, expert legal counsel, and full-time presence at the State House, combined with over four decades of experience, enables our staff to initiate real change on issues critical to Vermont – like the future of our water. Here are some interesting facts on groundwater.

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Groundwater Problems in Vermont

In one of the state’s fastest growing communities, Williston, residents’ taps were running dry because of the increased strain on the groundwater resource from rapid development. In Marshfield, residents discovered uranium – a naturally radioactive element – in both the public water supply and private wells. The water bottling company, ClearSource, draws tens of thousands of gallons of water from the public aquifer in Randolph for commercial bottling. The results? Degrading a prized trout stream and drying up nearby residents' wells.
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Environmental Report: Groundwater

VNRC has released the Fall 2005 Vermont Environmental Report, with special emphasis on the threats to Vermont's drinking water supply. Currently, significant gaps exist for mapping and protecting Vermont's critical groundwater supply. It is expected that the Vermont Legislature will take a close look at the issue during the 2006 Legislative Session. And don't forget that VNRC members are the first to receive hard copies of our publications!
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Legislative Action Needed to Protect Drinking Water

UPDATE: In May 2006, Governor Jim Douglas signed into law H.294 - the groundwater protection bill. The bill establishes an interim permitting process for water withdrawals over 50,000 gallons per day. The bill is designed to safeguard Vermont against groundwater depletion and contamination until a long-term, comprehensive program is put in place. Read the final bill language here.
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