I agree with Bill Nemitz’s Aug. 24 column that water is life. I am indeed grateful that Maine has an abundance of clean water, unlike some parts of the world. Hurricane Harvey has put Texas water at risk after the catastrophic flooding and toxic stew in the floodwaters. Natural and manmade disasters (think Flint, Michigan) remind us how precious our water resource is.

We need to be thoughtful about conserving and preserving our fresh water. As Mr. Nemitz pointed out, is it in our best interest to be buying bottled water when we have clean tap water to drink?

How much plastic ends up in the waste stream from plastic bottled water, instead of using reusable containers? How does the private, large-scale commercial extraction of our groundwater affect Maine’s fresh-water resource? Should our groundwater be in the public trust, rather than in private hands? These are questions we need to ponder and debate.

I am part of an education and advocacy group called Elders for Future Generations. Let’s hope we don’t leave water wars to be fought by future generations, because of our shortsighted reliance on a marketed commodity that we have only recently decided we need.

Pamela Anderson

Old Orchard Beach