The League of Women Voters of Wayland presents: SUSTAINING WAYLAND’S DRINKING WATER
January 26, 2012, Town Building, 7:30 pm
Wayland has always been proud of its drinking water. But in recent years our water has been criticized by many residents. What happened? Is it getting better or worse? What can we do to insure an adequate supply of safe, good-tasting, and clean water? We’ll hear from three distinguished speakers with international, regional and local expertise in water matters as we learn about water supply sustainability for Wayland:
Janot Mendler de Suarez, who is Co-chair of the Global Oceans Forum working group on Oceans & Climate, and has been a Research consultant with Oxfam America on Volatility: the New Normal?, will speak on global water concerns as the context for Wayland’s own issues of growth and development causing stress and risk to our water supply.
Alison Field-Juma, Executive Director of OARS, the watershed organization for the Assabet, Sudbury, and Concord Rivers, will talk about our own watershed, its management and our role in using and protecting its water. Alison has been using science-based advocacy to lead efforts to ensure the effective use of local, state and federal laws and policies to restore the health of the three rivers. Working with OARS' staff, board, and volunteers Alison has supported partnerships and innovation in the watershed to tackle complex river issues.
Protecting Wayland’s water supply will be addressed directly by Tom Sciacca, an MIT trained Electrical Engineer, who served as a senior manager in a Fortune 500 company before co-founding an alternative energy startup to fight climate change in 1990. The new company was the subject of a front page Wall Street Journal article and its new product won the Popular Science Product of the Year Award for Environmental Technology. As a volunteer Tom was a Conservation Commissioner in the 1970's and 80's and more recently a member of the Wellhead Protection Committee.
Questions from those attending the forum will be welcomed during and after the panelists’ presentations.
