Editor:
[In response to Ryan Wilson’s letter, “Taking water from future generations is immoral” in the July 3 issue]
I appreciate Mr. Wilson’s opinions about sustainability, but the suggestion that water is being taken from future generations in the Post this week is incorrect.
Poland Spring monitors and protects every spring source we use – these springs must be flowing 10 years from now and 100 years from now – this is important for the environment and our business!
In this case with the Kennebunk-Kennebunkport-Wells Water District, Poland Spring is not taking control of any public water. The Water District remains in complete control thanks to the contract terms they have dictated and we will agree to – the water district can stop our withdrawals if conditions warrant – that is local control.
Also, please don’t overlook the fact that our proposed agreement with KKWWD is only the beginning. Any development and construction whether of structures or water withdrawal, will require additional local and state oversight, review, and permitting.
I work for Poland Spring and am a geologist in charge of water level monitoring, spring monitoring and sustainability at all our spring sites in Maine. I am from Maine too – my family and more than 800 other Maine families rely on Poland Spring’s good, clean manufacturing jobs that use a renewable resource.
One big piece of information that is missing from the discussion is that water is a rapidly-renewable resource in the sand and gravel aquifers used by Poland Spring and municipal water districts statewide. Just because you use water today, does not mean that it’s gone tomorrow.
If this were the case, a farmer working in Maine today and using groundwater for crop irrigation would eventually put himself or herself out of business over time. This is not the case with farming or with our industry because we receive much rain and snow in Maine that naturally recharges local aquifers.
To consider sustainability, we need to consider non-renewable resources and renewable resources. It takes 60 million years to make oil (non-renewable), a tree grows for 30 years or so (renewable), but water renews itself continually in the state of Maine (rapidly renewable, it rains in Maine).
The big difference between the climate in Maine and other parts of the world is that we receive around 44 inches of precipitation on average. Some places with water issues receive less than 25 percent of our rainfall.
Poland Spring has operated a business in Maine for 163 years with no adverse impact, through droughts and low water seasons. We monitor all of our sources for sustainability because we aim to be in business for at least another 163 years in the future.
Monitoring at our sites includes precipitation, aquifer water levels, stream flows and many biological parameters to provide additional measures of sustainability.
Average water levels over the past couple of years near our spring site in Hollis are actually higher today than when we started operations around 2000. Monitoring data from this site is completely public and we operate under numerous federal, state and local rules and regulations in eight towns across Maine.
I encourage everyone to learn more about our business in the coming weeks and help us separate rumor from fact.
It is really important to make educated decisions that help Maine’s economy grow while protecting our natural resources.
Mark Dubois
Natural Resource Manager, Poland Spring