As flood waters rose, waste along river corridors increased. Sewage, farm waste, pesticides, and industrial supplies were all potential contaminants. As a result, owners of springs and wells in many towns were cautioned to boil water. About 1,200 residents in Morrisville were warned not to consume the village water, and flood waters put a number of public water systems along the Lamoille River at risk.
WATER SUPPLY. Two fundamental factors define water availability: quantity and quality. Lack of rainfall in 1995 highlighted the importance of the former. Precipitation at one point was 8 inches below normal--this in a state that averages about 40 inches annually.
The world's freshwater volume is preciously small. Approximately 97 percent of all water is saltwater, The remaining 3 percent is freshwater; of this, only 30 percent is available for use, with most freshwater trapped in ice caps and glaciers. Freshwater is readily visible in the form of surface water, rivers and lakes, but this represents only 0.01 percent of the earth's total water. Groundwater is not so evident although approximately 0.6 percent of the world's water is found in the subsurface.
While nature greatly controls the supply of water, humans influence its use. An estimated 632 million gallons in freshwater withdrawals occur daily in Vermont. This serves electric generators, industrial and commercial needs, agriculture, and mining activities, along with what we use in our homes. Urban areas need large quantities of water and obtain it from surface sources such as lakes, ponds, and reservoirs. In rural areas, the smaller but more numerous public water systems depend on groundwater. Groundwater is also most apt to serve the single-family, self-supplied users. The average availability or yield of drilled wells is estimated at 3 gallons per minute.
Shortages of water can adversely affect human health and jeopardize our ability to dispose of waste. As water levels drop, turbidity may increase, resulting in increased bacteria. Moreover, the quality of water generally declines as it is used, which can affect the sustainability of the resource itself. In rural Vermont, domestic water eventually carries sanitary waste from homes, and water associated with agricultural activities may contain pesticides and animal waste. In urban settings, the combination of domestic, industrial, and commercial wastewater and stormwater can include an array of potential contaminants. Therefore, water conservation practices not only reduce the amount of water used, they also maintain its quality.
Although not in infinite supply, water in Vermont is abundant enough that with controls the resource can be managed. Conservation measures include repairing plumbing leaks, installing low-flow fixtures, washing full loads of dishes and clothes, watering gardens in the early evening or morning, and mulching plants to retain moisture. Such efforts have a crucial bearing on Vermont's economy. Water is necessary for industrial and commercial needs and agricultural activities, which provide development opportunities. Water is fundamental to the state's ability to grow, and, at the same time, growth impacts both the quantity and quality of this resource.
SURFACE WATERS. Vermont's surface waters provide a wide variety of habitats for fish, macroinvertebrates, plants, and other aquatic life. These same waters also provide a wide range of uses for humans: fishing, hunting, boating, swimming, and non-recreational uses such as drinking water, waste assimilation, industrial and agricultural uses, and power generation. For us, the stewards of this resource, water quality management requires the balancing of these human uses against the ability of surface waters to support and sustain biologically diverse communities of aquatic plants and animals.
Public surveys and legislation provide clear and consistent evidence that we Vermonters value clean lakes and rivers and believe that maintaining a high-quality environment is critical to maintaining our quality of life. We also have a deep concern for a healthy and growing economy. In other words, we want it all -- a diversity of high-quality recreational opportunities, waters clean enough to support natural aquatic ecosystems, and a robust economy.
While progress in cleaning up our waterways has been relatively rapid and successful to date, as with any waste removal process it's always more difficult to get at the final 20 percent. Many of the adverse water quality impacts which remain today are the result of many small nonpoint sources spread throughout the ecosystem which individually may be insignificant but cumulatively have tremendous effects. Effective solutions will require long-term, incremental changes in how we use water, often in partnerships, in order to achieve results (See pages 5-7). There is less immediate gratification in implementing small, individual nonpoint source control measures now than 25 years ago when everyone agreed that building a waste treatment facility was the right thing to do and the result was an immediate and dramatic improvement in water quality.
Threats to Vermont's aquatic biodiversity and sustainability do not come solely from waste. The proliferation of exotic species, a form of biological pollution, poses a significant threat to our surface waters. take users in Vermont are well aware of several exotic species which have invaded our surface waters: Eurasian watermilfoil and water chestnut can grow in such densities that swimming, boating, and, in some cases, fishing are precluded; sea lampreys affect sport-fishing; acid zebra mussels can block water intake pipes and. render swimming areas unusable due to their sharp, cutting edges.
Even more insidious is the effect these aggressive invaders can have on the biodiversity of the natural ecosystems that they invade. In many lakes, ponds, and wetlands, diverse stands of native plant species have been replaced by dense single-species stands of Eurasian watermilfoil, water chestnut, Japanese knotweed, or purple loose-strife, resulting not only in a reduction in plant diversity, but also a loss of habitat diversity that affects a wide range of plants and animals. The ability of native trout and salmon species to thrive in Lake Champlain is threatened by sea lamprey predation. And native mussels in Lake Champlain are likely to be severely impacted, if not totally wiped out, by colonizing zebra mussels.
For some exotic species, there are population control options, sometimes including the use of chemical pesticides, which are often controversial and usually expensive. As with other water use issues, the balancing of environmental, economic, and recreational concerns dominates the debate over how best to control invading populations of exotic species -- all against the backdrop of wanting a healthy, biologically diverse resource future generations can enjoy.
The future of water quality management in Vermont will require a commitment by all of us to learn about problems affecting our water and to participate in their solutions. In making this commitment, we should understand that although there will be no instant gratification, cumulatively our individual actions will ensure the long-term sustainability of Vermont's diverse aquatic resources. In terms of water supply, we can implement water conservation measures which will save us water and money, such as the installation of low-flow plumbing fixtures, We need to become familiar with the sources of our water and the nearby activities which could contaminate them. Septic systems are necessary and numerous, and failed septic systems should be repaired. Household hazardous waste should be disposed of properly. Underground fuel tanks, especially old and potentially leaking one, need monitoring.