LETTER: Mining makes drought worse

To the Telegram:

As our Wisconsin, Midwest drought continues from summer into winter, I wonder about our clean water, our polluted water, and how we Wisconsinites are making choices about water use.

One issue we can control is the re-emergence of the major mining proposal up in northern Wisconsin. I wonder if that would be a wise decision.

Sure people sell it as jobs issues — though there are some questions about that being true in the long run — but a more serious overarching question to me is, is quickly pulling hundreds of thousands of gallons of clean water out of our aquifers to be briefly used and then contaminated really a wise idea?

And where will this used up polluted water be dumped? Will it be dumped or leached into rivers and streams, and eventually use for our consumption?

Shouldn’t this precious water be conserved for our drinking and farming purposes?

We are the stewards of water. Our adult bodies are 60 percent water. We live in a closed eco-system. There is no new water on Earth. To ensure clean water is available for us, and future generations, we need to make our best decisions about how to use water, and reclaim our polluted water.

Richard Johnson,

McFarland, Wis.

Tags: opinion, letters