Letter to the Editor: Act Now to Preserve Our Water

This letter comes in response to the recent, outstanding op-ed piece by Kimberlee Wright [“Clean Water Demands Action,” volume 21, issue 51]. Kimberlee represents the Midwest Environmental Advocates a not-for-profit which promotes good “health, air, water, land and government.” In her article she outlines, in particular, the growing failure of the DNR to actively protect our water sources.

It remains a mystery to me why protecting our water should not be a highest priority. We could all live with less of most everything – except water. Good, clean, reliable water is necessary for life itself, and has always been a goal of every viable community. We, in Wisconsin, are blessed with abundant water. But history has shown us, over and over again, how unregulated pollution can quickly destroy the quality of our water.

Ms. Wright rightly points out that the increasingly severe weather events produced by climate change make the issue even more urgent. Run-off caused by unusually heavy rains carry pollutants in our water supply in a new and frightening way. It is imperative that we act now to preserve our water.

As Ms. Wright suggests, we need to contact our representatives at all levels and demand that the DNR make it a top priority to protect our most precious commodity – our clean, fresh, safe water.

Rev. Gwynne K. Schultz

Sister Bay, Wis.