Louisiana Illuminator
Bill would allow industrial users to keep their employees on water regulation boards
The Louisiana Capitol Building, April 8, 2021. (Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator).
The Louisiana Legislature is close to approving a bill that would allow employees of industrial companies to sit on the groundwater district commissions that oversee the drinking water those companies use for commercial operations. The legislation would also retroactively void ethics violations five Baton Rouge-area groundwater district commissioners face over conflicts of interest.
The Senate has already approved Senate Bill 203, and it got out of the House Committee on House and Governmental Affairs without a single objection Wednesday. The House will next take up the proposal that has faced little opposition from lawmakers so far.
Industry Overuse Puts Capital City Drinking Water At Risk
Until about 10 years ago, the 86-year-old retired contractor was like most of his neighbors in the city’s leafy Southdowns neighborhood near Louisiana State University; he simply didn’t put much thought into the water flowing from his taps.
But then he went back to school and learned about hydrology and the movement of water underground. He got a master’s degree in climatology and wrote his thesis on the city’s freshwater supply.
“I became very concerned that the aquifer was in danger from saltwater intrusion,” said Town, who now leads Baton Rouge Citizens to Save Our Water Inc., a nonprofit fighting for more oversight of the water system.
Industry Overuse Puts Capital City Drinking Water At Risk wrkf.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from wrkf.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
It’s simple, easy and free.
Other than the cost to dig the well and the price he pays to run the pump, the water itself is like the air above it free. He can use as much of it as he wants.
But he doesn’t like to talk about that.
“I just don t like the message there because it s going to make somebody say, ‘Well, maybe we should make them pay for the water,’” Richard said. “I mean, I don t want to make a bigger deal out of it than what it is, you know? Because you re almost inviting somebody to stake claim to this water.”
Amid Rising Seas And Record Storms, Louisiana s Water Is Running Low kedm.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kedm.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.