VNRC's Groundwater Goals

Fall 2007

To address the long-term protections necessary to safeguard the state’s groundwater, the Governor appointed a task force and charged it with recommending a groundwater protection program for Vermont. The task force is anticipated to deliver its recommendations to the Legislature in January 2008. From its seat at the task force table, VNRC is working to ensure that Vermont embraces a meaningful, comprehensive groundwater protection program. That includes:

The creation of comprehensive maps of the state’s groundwater resources. Establish funding for and require the Agency of Natural Resources to map and classify all drinking water, including public aquifers and private wells, so that decisions to protect and regulate our water are based on sound scientific data. Without a clear understanding of the quantity and location of the state’s underground drinking water resources, Vermont remains vulnerable to depletion and pollution.


The creation of a comprehensive water protection program. The state should enact regulatory policies that sustainably manages groundwater withdrawals and helps ensure Vermont does not deplete its drinking water and guarantees public involvement in decisions about the future of this vital resource.


Declare all of Vermont’s groundwater a public resource. Such a declaration will help ensure that Vermont’s water is managed first and foremost for the public good. Essentially, this means that the state’s underground drinking water supplies are owned by no one person, but by everyone and that any commercial use is carefully considered with the public’s interest as a first priority. Many states, including New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, have already taken this important step. This declaration will also afford groundwater the same protections as our surface waters, which now currently held and managed in the public trust.