LEWISTON – Water is a “huge” resource in the state, according to a state geologist and member of a stakeholders group considering changes to state water withdrawal regulations.
Robert Marvinney, state geologist and director for the Maine Geological Survey, speaking at the Sun Journal offices Tuesday, said that a lot of people in Maine have concerns because they hear about water issues out West.
In Denver, for example, the recharge area is in the foothills and “that’s it,” he said. It’s different here, he said. In most places in the state, a person building a house doesn’t have to worry that they will find water, he said.
Though the resource is abundant here, that does not mean it is unlimited.
State legislators last year passed a law to enhance the state’s role in regulating groundwater withdrawal. The law allows state agencies to consider new proposals for groundwater withdrawal in conjunction with other water uses in the same watershed, according to Marvinney.
The law also provides for a stakeholders group to review the state’s water withdrawal regulations. The group comprises people on all sides of the issue including Tom Brennan of Poland Spring Water Co. and Jim Wilfong of Stow who was recently unsuccessful in securing enough signatures to put a water tax referendum on the state’s next ballot. The group, numbering nearly 30, also includes state legislators and officials from several state agencies. They will meet for the third time Jan. 13 and are expected to report their recommendations to the Legislature by November, in time for legislative action in March 2007.
Though Marvinney would not comment on Wilfong’s proposal to tax water bottling companies by the gallon, he said if bottling companies were taxed, so too should other groundwater users.
“If there were to be a tax, everyone would need to be treated fairly,” he said. The key is tracking water usage to ensure that regulations are adequate enough to protect the resource, he added.
Meanwhile, Kingfield’s Planning Board will be considering changes to the town’s water withdrawal ordinance in preparation for a proposed Poland Spring bottling plant there. They will meet initially today from 3 to 5 p.m. at the town offices.
Several towns where Poland Spring has had an impact have passed water withdrawal ordinances, Marvinney said.
“There’s a desire among towns to regulate their own resources,” he said.
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