| The following
petition/declaration,
which began to be circulated on February 9, 2001, was signed
on to by a large variety of British Columbia organizations, community
groups,
societies, and individuals listed below. The only point of further
consideration is that the government is unable to provide the correct
percentage
for the allowable annual cut in drinking watersheds (mentioned at about
2% below). Everyone
who is interested in bringing about legislated protection of drinking
water
sources, please sign on, and forward your inclusion to the following
address:
[email protected]. Your support is critical for the
future of our drinking water. Thankyou. PROTECT THE SOURCE OF DRINKING
WATER
February 13, 2001 Forests play an important role in the protection and replenishment of water, our most precious natural resource. Many of B.C.'s sources of drinking water have been damaged by industrial development such as logging, road-building, mining and grazing. Many watersheds throughout B.C. are in crisis because of these activities and under existing legislation there is no protection for the source of water. Health must come before profit. Water needs to be preserved, not treated after it has been compromised. The citizens of this province are demanding the kind of protection offered by more effective, less harmful non-chemical water treatment solutions. These solutions cannot be utilized in the absence of the high quality source water that intact forests provide. We urge the B.C. government to protect the source of drinking water by legislating "Watershed Reserves". Watershed Reserves would protect the source of water and be in areas that have no logging, road-building, mining or grazing by specific legislative enactment prohibiting these uses in any forms. Watershed Reserves would reduce the provincial AAC (Allowable Annual Cut) by approximately 2%. Water quality is one of the most important issues facing the community. Every citizen in this province deserves to drink clean water. The most important way to provide clean water is to protect the source. Protecting water sources by legislating Watershed Reserves will leave one of nature's richest legacies for our communities, our children and future generations - clean water. SIGNED: The Society Promoting
Environmental Conservation (SPEC)
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