Make your voice heard and vote for better water!
Yesterday our country made history. Whether you're celebrating or lamenting the results of yesterday's election, one can't help but be moved by the power of a single ballot. We all have a voice. Are we using that power to make our world a better place?
Election 2008 included such major choices as president of our country, the definition of marriage, and the value of human life. But that's not all. Many voters were also able to vote on the quality of water in their area.
Voters in Santa Clarita, California approved a local referendum that will require the removal of all salt-generated home water softeners that discharge into the sewer system of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District. Taking effect January 1, 2009, it will likely be the first law in the nation that mandates home softener removals to reduce chloride discharges into wastewater streams of a large community.
Measure S, as it was called, comes only weeks after the PWQA and WQA scored a significant victory, when Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed Assembly Bill (AB) 2270, which would have increased the powers of regional and local water agencies to remove softeners.
Another water issue on yesterday's ballot occurred in the state of Pennsylvania, where voters agreed to allow the state to borrow $400 million to repair and upgrade water and sewer systems. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection had urged voters to approve the referendum, which also called for the money to be used to curb storm water runoff, reduce pollution and address the negative environmental effects of agricultural chemicals.
And finally, Nebraska citizens declared they did not want to add fluoride to their drinking water. Many communities in Nebraska were mandated to vote on the issue by the Nebraska Legislature, which told all cities with 1,000 or more residents that they had to fluoridate their water; that is, unless the popular vote was in favor of an ordinance to avoid the practice.
With a simple touch of a screen or pencil mark on a ballot, Americans voted to make a difference. Thank you! This is OUR country and it is our privilege, honor and responsibility to contribute! Every day we have the choice to either complain about the problems we see or else do something to find a solution. Now go out there and make a difference!
