This guest column emphasizes the need for the industry's involvement in determining water management.
In most states, water wells provide a large percentage of citizens with their water supply. In addition, commercial and industrial wells are giving business and industry an economical source of water for their use. Why then, as states prepare water supply and management plans, are private wells being left out of the equation? The answer, I think, is fairly simple. As an industry, we are not asserting ourselves in the planning process. In addition, we are not doing a good job of asserting the positive aspects of a private water supply.
In the western part of the country, state-wide and inter-state battles over water rights, planning and management are raging. They have been for some time. In the eastern United States, however, several consecutive years of drought have been the impetus for state governments to put the development of water supply policy and planning on the front burner.