THIS FRIDAY - "Protecting Water in Kansas" - panel discussion 2/2/18

[Michael Almon]

PROTECTING WATER IN KANSAS: QUALITY AND AVAILABILITY - PANEL DISCUSSION
Friday, 2 February 2018, 6:00-9:00pm
Douglas County Fair Grounds, Dreher Building, 2110 Harper St., Lawrence KS 66046
directions to Dreher Bldg, Fairgrounds - click for map

The Sustainability Action Network will host a panel discussion on "Protecting Water in Kansas: Quality and Availability", with a local, regional, and state focus.  The evening will proceed as follows:

6:00pm sharp - The evening will begin with a pot luck dinner (arrive a little early with your dish). 
6:45pm - Kitchen  closes.  Welcome everyone, and an overview of water issues concerning our communities. 
7:00-8:00pm - After introductions, each of the panelists will describe the state of water as they see it, and how their organization is working to protect our waters for the common good. 
8:00-9:00pm - We will explore how all of us can best work together as a team to define and spark action that will lead to substantive change.  Any potential actions will be more effective if our organizations combine efforts.

The panelists are water activists who are leaders in their own organizations, and who draw upon varying perspectives for protecting our valuable waters.  Our intent is to educate, inspire, bring additional people into the movement, collaborate, and mobilize to action.  The following representatives from these groups will be the panelists:

Dawn Buehler - Friends of the Kaw: Kansas Riverkeeper 
Elaine Giessel - Kansas Sierra Club  
Thad Holcombe - Water Advocacy Team   
Rachel Jefferson - Historic Northeast Midtown Association     
Karin Pagel-Meiners - Wakarusa Group - Kansas Sierra Club  
Jessica Skyfield - Kansas Water  
Eric Kirkendall, moderator - Sustainability Action Network   

Water is our most precious good, enabling and cleansing all life.  Only 2.5% of Earth's water is fresh - present in lakes, streams, aquifers, and the atmosphere.  It is an all-encompassing concern, spanning the aspects of water quality, quantity, privatization, sea level rise, wars, and more.  Water availability is threatened by drought, desertification, pollution, urbanization, overconsumption, and privatization.  Water quality is threatened by our industrial society in several ways, from injection wells and fracking, to nitrate fertilizer and pesticide runoff, and pharmaceuticals and other toxins. 

Most of the pollution and overconsumption can be traced to industrial activities such as fossil fuel extraction, petrochemical plants, power generation, urban lawn chemicals, and industrial agriculture.  The cumulative result of all this is that our streams have become open sewers, aquatic ecosystems are compromised, aquifers are contaminated or threatened, crop failures are more common for both irrigating and subsistence farmers, cost of water treatment is rising, algae blooms trigger ocean dead zones, and there is a drinking water crisis in numerous cities nationwide. 

We all live downstream.  Our organizations want to develop strategies to protect our water commons and support all life.  Please join us at the 10th Annual Membership Meeting of Sustainability Action.