The US abstained from the declaration, but 122 nations signed on to a resolution to declare that access to clean water is a fundamental human right. No nation voted against the measure, but 40 nations abstained with the U.S. The nations abstaining did so, they say, because the resolution could undermine efforts in Geneva to define water rights.
Those of us who live in Senate District 7, probably don’t spend much time thinking about clean water. We get periodic reports from our water provider saying that the water meets all government standards for cleanliness. What we probably don’t pay much attention to is the risk that our water won’t always meet those standards.
I recently toured a waste treatment facility in Rifle that is solar powered and state of the art. Yet they have trouble meeting Colorado’s standards when they return water to the Colorado River. Why? Because when they take it out of the river, it already has so much arsenic in it that it exceeds state standards. When they return it to the river it has less arsenic in it than it did when they took it out, but it still exceeds state standards.
Any new diversions of water from the Colorado River headwaters will only make the problem worse. Colorado’s soil naturally contains some pretty dangerous elements, like selenium and arsenic. As the water flows downstream, it picks up these elements. One of the things that helps us downstream is pure volume. If a lot of clean water runs downstream, the dangerous elements are diluted. If a little clean water runs downstream, the dangerous elements are concentrated.
If we aren’t worried about the cleanliness of our water now, our local fruit and vegetable growers are. And I didn’t even mention what happens if fracking fluids get released into the river by wells drilling right on the banks of the Colorado River.
Homework:
UN Declares Water a Human Right
The Dangers of Arsenic
The Dangers of Selenium
Impact of Selenium on fish in the Colorado River
Selenium Contamination in the Colorado River
Scientific Study of Selenium
How Much Selenium is Safe?
Colorado GOP to EPA: Keep Your Noses Out of Our Fracking Fluid
Battle over Senate Bill to Require Disclosure of Chemicals in Fracking Fluid
Those of us who live in Senate District 7, probably don’t spend much time thinking about clean water. We get periodic reports from our water provider saying that the water meets all government standards for cleanliness. What we probably don’t pay much attention to is the risk that our water won’t always meet those standards.
I recently toured a waste treatment facility in Rifle that is solar powered and state of the art. Yet they have trouble meeting Colorado’s standards when they return water to the Colorado River. Why? Because when they take it out of the river, it already has so much arsenic in it that it exceeds state standards. When they return it to the river it has less arsenic in it than it did when they took it out, but it still exceeds state standards.
Any new diversions of water from the Colorado River headwaters will only make the problem worse. Colorado’s soil naturally contains some pretty dangerous elements, like selenium and arsenic. As the water flows downstream, it picks up these elements. One of the things that helps us downstream is pure volume. If a lot of clean water runs downstream, the dangerous elements are diluted. If a little clean water runs downstream, the dangerous elements are concentrated.
If we aren’t worried about the cleanliness of our water now, our local fruit and vegetable growers are. And I didn’t even mention what happens if fracking fluids get released into the river by wells drilling right on the banks of the Colorado River.
Homework:
UN Declares Water a Human Right
The Dangers of Arsenic
The Dangers of Selenium
Impact of Selenium on fish in the Colorado River
Selenium Contamination in the Colorado River
Scientific Study of Selenium
How Much Selenium is Safe?
Colorado GOP to EPA: Keep Your Noses Out of Our Fracking Fluid
Battle over Senate Bill to Require Disclosure of Chemicals in Fracking Fluid
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