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Lawmakers Send Wrong Message on Clean Water
Legislators send wrong message when it comes to clean water
By Tony Dean
For the Argus Leader
Published: February 20, 2008
It's strange that when South Dakota's water projects such as the Lewis and Clark pipeline struggle for funding to deliver clean drinking water, many in our Legislature are prepared to send a message to the U.S. Congress that South Dakotans don't want clean water - and they favor wetland drainage.
That's what passage of Senate Concurrent Resolution 8 could accomplish. It passed the state Senate last week without a dissenting vote and received a 13-0 "do pass" recommendation from the House Ag and Natural Resources committee Tuesday. It's on the House floor today. I suggest lawmakers failed to understand South Dakotans on this issue. Evidence?
Larry Gigliotti, the Human Dimensions Specialist at the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department surveyed the general public, not once, but twice (1997 and 2002), and he found slightly more than 85 percent of South Dakotans agreed wetlands are important to preserving clean water and should be protected. However, 6 percent agreed with the lawmakers who seek drainage.
If anything, support for wetlands remained steady, even increasing between the two survey periods. In addition, in 2002, Gigliotti said South Dakotans believed the state should protect certain stream flows for fish and wildlife by restricting overuse from industry, agriculture and municipalities.
He also queried fishermen who listed good water quality highest among nearly 30 factors affecting fishing.
This suggests the Farm Bureau and other big ag organizations opposing the Clean Water Restoration Act in the Congress enjoy little support among South Dakotans. It also suggests lawmakers who have already voted in favor of SCR 8 apparently are out of step with the majority of their constituents.
Ironically, SCR 8 suggests South Dakotans want to see wetland drainage with no curbs on farming practices that foul waterways. This effort reaches the House floor today after flying under the radar because there's been no news coverage of it. How can our lawmakers speak for all citizens if they haven't attempted to learn what their thoughts are?
It's gotten this far, in part, because proponents have carefully disguised what it really is. One representative said he was told all it would do is tell the EPA not to regulate the cattle industry. Another said he signed onto and voted for it simply because he trusted the person who brought it to him.
Is that any way to do the people's business?
SCR 8 is a backlash against the Clean Water Restoration Act, which the Congress is currently considering. The Farm Bureau and other Big Ag organizations have already publicly stated they oppose it. How can you say you are in favor of clean water and oppose the Clean Water Restoration Act?
Their effort not only works against clean water and what must be done to assure it, but also paves the way for wholesale tile drainage in a state that annually produces a significant portion of the ducks that migrate across American skies. It also ultimately harms fishing because water quality is the foundation of good fishing. It is no exaggeration to say SCR 8 is anti-hunting and fishing because it attacks the basic resources that provide good hunting and angling.
Thus, the SD Farm Bureau and its Big Ag allies have misled South Dakota legislators by being less than honest about their intent. Some call that lying.
What SCR 8 actually does is instruct the US Congress to weaken the Clean Water Restoration Act, suggesting it is the will of the people of South Dakota, though they have never asked citizens what they think. We wonder how our Congressional delegation will be able to ask for funding for the Lewis & Clark water project when our Legislature tells Congress we aren't interested in clean water?
And it could be accomplished by this afternoon when the full House considers this proposal. Which means you still have time to offer your input. You can do that via e-mail by going to http://legis.state.sd.us/sessions/2008/members.htm, where you can identify your representatives.
Lawmakers Send Wrong Message on Clean Water
