Number: 1981-39
WHEREAS, groundwater supplies represent an important source of water for human use, especially for drinking water and maintenance of wildlife habitat; and
WHEREAS, water which has been removed from the ground is seldom returned to the ground, but is usually used once and drained into the nearest body of moving water; and
WHEREAS, the use of fresh ground water for secondary and tertiary oil production often removes that water from the hydrologic cycle; and
WHEREAS, little attention is usually paid to means of returning used groundwater to the ground, and construction and paving annually render thousands more acres unfit to absorb precipitation and thus add to the groundwater supply; and
WHEREAS, groundwater levels generally are declining in several areas of the nation, often at an alarming rate resulting in salt water intrusion in some areas;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 26-29, 1981, in Norfolk, Virginia, hereby expresses its urgent concern about the declining levels of the nation’s groundwater supplies and requests the following at the state, regional, and national levels:
- Publicizing the extent and magnitude and environmental consequences of the decline;
- Recommendations which will indicate ways both to conserve and to replenish groundwater including reforms in water pricing;
- Implementation of these recommendations by the public and private sectors at all levels; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation opposes those uses of fresh groundwater in oil production processes which remove those waters from the hydrologic cycle or which cause long-term pollution of those waters.