On February 25, the Forum at the First Parish in Concord was the setting for a lively and well-attended discussion on regional water sharing, using the ongoing controversy over Nagog Pond as a case study. Green Acton member Kim Kastens opened the event with a slide presentation in which she laid out the context for why water issues are now emerging in eastern Massachusetts, and then dived into the water-related aspects of the Nagog Pond case. She ended with two sets of conclusions: the first sketched a potential environment-friendly resolution to the current Nagog controversy. The second was a broader set of lessons learned, applicable no matter what happens at Nagog Pond. Kastens’ full slide deck is here, and her “lessons learned” slide is below:
The audience lingered for more than an hour of intensive, but cordial, discussion. Viewpoints from Littleton, Concord, and Acton were shared and respected. It was possible to conclude that if we could find or create an ongoing forum for neighbor-to-neighbor discussion of water issues, our region could find a way to avoid the worst consequences of the “water wars” that have bedeviled other regions faced with water scarcity.
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