Letter: Garland citizens and water users

To the Editor;
Have you had problems with your well as the severe drought conditions have continued through the summer and fall?
Have you heard complaints from your neighbors about their water problems?
Have you had trouble going fishing in favorite streams or ponds that have dropped to very low levels or even dried up completely?
Are you concerned that large scale water extraction companies might be eyeing Garland as a potential area for commercial-scale pumping activities from our deep aquifers?
Are you concerned that you might lose your water supplies or see them seriously degraded especially if the drought continues or water extraction companies start tapping into town aquifers?
If the answer to any of the above questions is “yes,” or if you are just interested in learning about Garland’s water resources, you are invited to a meeting of concerned citizens sponsored by the Planning Board at the Town Office on Tuesday evening, December 6, starting at 6 p.m. The meeting is meant to foster discussion and exchange ideas and information about possible water access problems in the future and what the town and its citizens can do to prevent or limit these problems.
Maine has usually been blessed with an abundant supply of clean, fresh water and that fact is one of the things that makes our state such an attractive place to live and raise a family. But that very attractiveness has not gone unnoticed by water extraction firms which are always looking for new places to mine water for sale to the public worldwide. It seems prudent that the citizens of Garland should be aware of this fact and consider ways to limit its growing impact on one of our town’s greatest assets, our water!
Ed Hummel, chairman
Garland Planning Board