New group tackles clean water issues

Jasmine Brown Guest Writer

What are we doing to protect and ensure the safety of our water supply? H2O Action, a local campaign under the Vassar Greens, is working to provide an answer to that question.

Amy Dowley ’08 political science and geography major, formed H2O Action this semester as a chapter of a larger campaign for a National Clean Water Trust Fund. H2O is a pilot project of the national Food & Water Watch (F WW), a consumer rights group. Dowley, a remote intern for FWW, is acting as a test case for future college campus internships.

H2O Action’s goal is to “increase awareness on campus and in the community about the need for a Clean Water Trust Fund and the current environmental and health problems as they relate to aging and failing wastewater treatment systems,” said Dowley in an e-mailed statement. The fund will establish financial resources, ensuring that communities have adequate and consistent funding.

“Creating a Trust Fund ensures that money for wastewater infrastructure is not subject to political oversight or the annual congressional divvy over budget dollars,” she said.

The H2O Action campaign kicked off this semester with a Sept. 11 screening of the movie Thirst (2003). The movie documents the global problems of the privatization of water supply and on Oct. 3rd, in response to Food & Water Watch’s Clear Water report, H20 Action participated in a clean-up of Casperkill Creek.

Now is an ideal time for lobbyists to put water issues on the congressional agenda. This fall marks the 35th Anniversary of the Clean Water Act, which established the structure for regulating the dumping of pollutants into United States waters. H2O Action is actively contacting Congressional member to stress the importance of a Clean Water Trust Fund. On October 11th, H2O Action joined a nationwide call-in day to Congressional members to advocate the signing of H. R. 725, which passed last week and asked congress to recommit to maintaining the integrity of the nation’s waters. The campaign is also planning a Letter the Editor party, open to students, to be held in November.

To find out more information about the Clean Water Fund, visit foodandwaterwatch.org or check out H20 Action’s facebook group. To get involved contact Amy Dowley at amdowely@vassar.edu or attend a Greens meeting, held every Thursday at 8pm in the Jade Parlor.