Nine years ago, the U.S. Water Alliance began a national education campaign to urge communities across the US to pause and reflect on the value of reliable water delivery systems. Their campaign was named “Imagine A Day Without Water” and called for a “National Day of Action.” In 2023, that National Day of Action is Thursday, Oct. 19 – the same day those residents of the Boothbay region using seasonal water will have their water cut off for the next six months.

Our seasonal residents don’t have to imagine a day without water – they face months without water every year. Water is so fundamental and necessary to daily life that they move out of their homes when the water is turned off because they can no longer flush toilets, take baths, do laundry, wash dishes or, heaven forbid, make coffee! Moreover, public health and safety are compromised without water as fires cannot be extinguished nor can gardens or crops be watered.

In the last year alone, dozens of communities across the country sustained damage to their water systems for a variety of reasons – from ice storms and floods to failing infrastructure and saltwater intrusion. And too many communities had long neglected their fragile water delivery infrastructure because most people don’t think about where their water comes from as long as clean water flows from their tap when they turn it on. The non-profit DigDeep, which focuses on drinking water, estimates that as many as 44 million people in the US take their water from systems in violation of the US Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974, which regulates public drinking water contaminants.

Our region‘s sole source of public drinking water are Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake. Maine’s EPA has designated Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake as “threatened” due to the potential for further human development in their watersheds. What happens in these watersheds plays the major role in ensuring that the Region’s water supply remains healthy and clean. As watersheds are developed and natural areas are converted to buildings, parking lots and roads, water quality in the downstream waterbody declines.

The Boothbay Region Clean Drinking Water Initiative was started a few years ago to focus attention on our area’s drinking water needs and to “forever preserve the drinking water of the Boothbay Peninsula.” And because Adams Pond and Knickerbocker Lake’s watersheds remain largely forested, we have a matchless opportunity to protect our drinking water for the future in the least expensive way possible – simply preserve 75% of the forested land that now exists in the watershed to act as a natural filter cleaning and preserving the water.

Having an adequate supply of clean drinking water doesn’t just happen. Water delivery systems are essential, invaluable and in need of continuous attention and investment. Our region’s water infrastructure is the lifeline of our community. Just ask one of your seasonal neighbors who will be leaving their home on Oct. 19 their opinion of the value of clean drinking water.

For easy ways you can save water, please visit https://www.consumerreports.org/water-conservation/how-to-cut-your-water-use-in-half-a1121517078/.