Protect Public Water Supplies Municipal officials and others opposed to aquifer protection regulations are being shortsighted. If anything, the proposed state rules need strengthening to effectively protect drinking-water supplies in Connecticut.
Aquifers are natural underground formations holding water that can be pumped for public consumption.
The long-overdue guidelines were ordered by the General Assembly more than a decade ago. The regulations would apply to land use above any underground water supply that serves more than 1,000 people. They would affect about 2 percent of the state's land area. Unfortunately, opposition from real estate developers, industries and some municipal governments has stymied the implementation of the rules for the better part of a decade. Finally, however, the state Department of Environmental Protection has identified the sites to be protected, called aquifer recharge areas, and has drawn up proposed regulations.