Editor’s note: This commentary is by Jen Duggan, who is vice president and director of the Conservation Law Foundation in Vermont.
[M]any of Vermont’s beautiful streams, rivers and lakes are not healthy. This time of year, melting snow and rain carry pollution like chemicals, oils, salts, nutrients and animal waste into our waterways, wreaking havoc on the health of our lakes and ponds. Over the summer, we will once again be faced with cyanobacteria blooms, which contain toxins that can cause illness in humans and animals, including harm to the liver and nervous system. These outbreaks threaten public health and harm Vermont’s $2.5 billion tourism industry. To protect the health of our communities and economy as well as the recreational opportunities so many Vermonters and visitors enjoy, the state must invest in clean water.
Clean water belongs to all of us, but we simply won’t have clean water without long-term investment in this shared resource. We are halfway through this legislative session and there is still no clear path for clean water funding. The governor’s proposal falls short on the amount needed to clean up our waters because it relies on existing revenues that are needed for other important state programs. The Legislature has yet to put forth a serious plan to raise the necessary revenue. The Senate passed its clean water bill, S. 96, with a stated commitment to raising funding but without any new revenue to protect and restore our waterways. S. 96 creates an important framework to distribute funds and implement projects on the ground with transparency and accountability, but critically, it does not deliver the money. We are now counting on the House to develop and pass a funding proposal that will also be acceptable to the Senate.
There is no excuse for further delay. For years, we have studied all aspects of clean water funding. Treasurer Beth Pearce released a comprehensive report after extensive outreach with numerous stakeholders that evaluated potential funding and financing strategies for clean water over two years ago. We have all of the information we need to act.
Securing funding for clean water now is vital. For the past two years, the state has jumpstarted clean water investment largely with general obligation bonds through the capital bill and some additional revenue from the property transfer tax and unclaimed bottle deposits. However, with competing priorities for capital bill dollars, it is time for the Legislature to establish new, dedicated funding for clean water. Without long-term funds, projects to restore wetlands, retrofit roads, and implement best management practices on farms are in jeopardy. If we do not invest now, costs will only increase over time.
Estimates from Treasurer Pearce put clean water funding needs at approximately $115 million per year. While some of these costs are covered with federal funds and a portion will fall to businesses, towns and cities, we know the health of our rivers and lakes depends on stable state investment.
It’s time for the House and Senate to get serious about meeting our clean water obligations and work together to find a solution. The Legislature must raise a minimum initial investment of $25 million per year beyond current funding for clean water. This level of investment is a necessary step toward meeting our legal obligations to the federal Environmental Protection Agency to clean up polluted waters and to safeguard our high-quality rivers and lakes. We ask the state to commit to restoring Lake Champlain, Lake Memphremagog and the Connecticut River without losing sight of the pockets of pristine water across Vermont that also need protection. A failure to act this year represents a broken promise to Vermont communities who believe we are all in on clean water.
We’re ready to work with legislators to make this promise to Vermonters a reality. It’s time to stop kicking the can down the road on funding so we can work on implementing projects across the state to restore and protect our waters for this and future generations.
