VT water bill may violate NAFTA

VERMONT – With Lake Champlain, snowy peaks, and 40 inches of rain a year, the Green Mountain State isn’t exactly parched. But don’t tell that to Annette Smith.

Six years ago, a mining company pumped 2.7 million gallons of water from an underground well near her Danby, Vt., home. The local springs were so dry she had to spend more than $4,000 to dig a new well. When water eventually returned to the springs, the levels weren’t what they once were, she says.

Such episodes have Vermonters so worried about unregulated water withdrawals that on Friday the state legislature passed a bill that establishes a water-permit requirement.

Read more here.

Source : Cristian Science Monitor