We take for granted that when we turn the knob on our faucets, water will flow. Often, that’s where our appreciation of water ends. The truth is, every moment of every day, for our health, our business and our quality of life, we rely upon a good, clean, always-available supply of water.
But where does it come from? In New Hampshire, our water supply is typically drawn from either surface water sources – like Lake Massabesic in Manchester – or ground water. Taken together, these are known as source water. Source water is New Hampshire’s most precious resource. It is essential to life. Protecting it must be a priority for our state, and, now, there is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do just that.
Tasked with awarding funds to protect against future water contamination and help communities improve critical drinking water infrastructure, the New Hampshire Drinking Water and Groundwater Advisory Commission is set to begin making grants to municipalities and nonprofits as early as this fall to support the protection of the state’s source water resources.
The approximately $278 million administered by the commission was set aside from a legal judgment in a groundwater contamination case, thanks to the vision and leadership of State Senate President Chuck Morse and others.
While there are many worthy identified water-resource infrastructure needs in communities across the state, the commission should spend some of these monies to protect land.
Why protect land to protect water?
To start: Our source water is vulnerable now.
Watersheds in fast-growing communities too often remain unprotected and threatened by development, which can alter landscapes, generate pollution and threaten source water. Once a source water area is developed and water resources degraded, there is no turning back.
In New Hampshire, our economy is strong, our population is once again growing, and development pressure on our natural landscape is increasing, especially in the southern parts of our state.
The threat of poorly planned development – and not taking action to protect our watersheds now – is immediate.
It makes economic sense to protect source water.
Protecting land for source water is good not only for public health and the viability of our community water supplies, it is also good for taxpayers and our economy.
Water treatment is very expensive, and there is strong evidence that protecting source water provides cost-savings to our state. One study determined that for every 10 percent increase in natural land in watershed areas, there is a 20 percent decrease in water treatment costs. The more forested a watershed is, the less expensive it is to treat the water.
Furthermore, New Hampshire’s economy benefits greatly from source water protection. A New Hampshire analysis found that every $1 the state invested in conserving land returned $11 to our economy through natural goods and services. Meanwhile, our forestry, agriculture and commercial fishing industries – industries that generate $2.5 billion in economic output while supporting over 18,000 jobs in the state – depend on maintaining the quality of our forests and water.
Source water protection is not only necessary – it’s a smart investment.
We also know Granite Staters care about land conservation and its effect on our quality of life.
A 2012 survey of likely New Hampshire voters found 97 percent agreed that New Hampshire should invest in land conservation to protect our state’s quality of life for future generations. Another recent survey found that 94 percent of college students and recent graduates cited quality of life as a reason they planned to stay here.
Protecting source water through land conservation is a critical and cost-effective tool at our disposal for maintaining the quality of life that annually makes New Hampshire one of the most livable states in the country.
The bottom line is that using our forests and lands as natural infrastructure that ensures long-term access to clean drinking water while reducing treatment costs is a win-win for New Hampshire.
We hope that future generations will raise a glass to the work being done today by the Drinking Water and Groundwater Advisory Commission to protect our source water.
(Mark Zankel is executive director of the Nature Conservancy in New Hampshire.)