Rhode Island may be in troubled times financially, but there is one area in which we should have a distinct, competitive economic advantage over many other states: water.
On Feb. 26, I submitted legislation to the General Assembly aimed at capitalizing on the competitive edge that Rhode Island’s water provides by encouraging water conservation, protecting the natural resources that make up the state’s shared water system, ensuring fair pricing, and supporting the upkeep and operation of the state’s water infrastructure.
The bill, the Water Conservation and Competitiveness Act, will accomplish three important goals simultaneously:
• Ensure availability of water for priority uses such as economic development, drinking water, farming and firefighting.
• Deliver the water Rhode Islanders need for priority uses while protecting natural resources that support economic activity and make Rhode Island such an attractive place to live.
• Improve efficiency in the state’s water use – conservation is the fastest and cheapest, most environmentally sound way to make more water available.
Conserving water should be a top priority for all Rhode Islanders, because it can contribute to economic growth and protect the environment. The state needs to have a concrete plan that balances our needs with our resources, and have a system that encourages everyone in the state to help make it work. With this bill, we can do that.
Action on improving Rhode Island’s water supply system is needed because summer water demand is significantly higher than winter demand, driven primarily by residential outdoor use. This increased summer use is taxing our rivers and streams, and it is pushing us to look for new and expensive sources of water.
There are others who share this view. I and many others have worked with the Coalition for Water Security, a partnership of 17 leading Rhode Island public interest organizations, on the Water Conservation and Competitiveness Act. They, too, know that the bill will allow water suppliers to improve the efficiency of water use, especially for residential outdoor use in the summer. It also allows water suppliers to charge more for wasteful water use, creates incentives for efficiency and increasing fairness for use of the shared resource, and provides for economical rate structures that make a basic level of residential use affordable. Water suppliers will be able to save consumers money and make water delivery more reliable by establishing a funding mechanism that will allow for maintenance and infrastructure repair on a “pay as you go” basis.
Water means jobs. When water-reliant companies are looking for a place to locate their business, it would be – and has been – a blow to the state’s economy to have to tell them that we are unable to guarantee them the supply (within reason) that they need.
Conservation is again the key to maintaining that potential edge in the business world and to protect the natural resources that make the state a wonderful place to live and visit. By making our water supply more efficient through conservation, we not only give our economic development efforts a boost, but we ensure that the rivers and streams that nurture our fish, plants and entire environment remain flowing at a healthy level.
Everyone knows only too well that times are tough. But if Rhode Island cannot find the will to adopt the measures in the Water Conservation and Competitiveness Act, ones that will reinvigorate our economy, we are just all wet. •
Rep. Frank Ferri, a Democrat, represents House District 22 in Warwick.
