PROVIDENCE – Recent local and national efforts to highlight the importance of clean water have a special significance for Catholics, says RI Catholic’s environmental columnist William Patenaude.
“Both the Holy See and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops have made repeated statements about the basic need of water—clean water—for human health and social justice,”?Patenaude said. “These statements are simply the recognition that assuring clean, plentiful drinking water and protecting public health and the environment from polluted waters need to be a fundamental precept for any society.”
Recently, a Vatican-sponsored exhibit was included at the International Exposition on Water and Sustainable Development held from June through September in Zaragoza, Spain. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, spoke on behalf of Benedict XVI, saying that water is essential to human survival, and so everyone—rich and poor alike—has a right to it. Cardinal Martino added that the Vatican seeks "to celebrate water as a life-giving sign of the presence of God in creation."
At 2003’s third World Water Forum, then-Archbishop Martino made similar comments. “The Holy See’s contribution is presented with the conviction of the central role of the human being in caring for the environment and its constitutive elements. Only when humankind respects the integrity of creation, in conformity to God’s providential plan, will we reach a true appreciation of the significance of water in creation and for humankind.”
The document spelled out the life issues surrounding water, including the historical, political, social, scientific, public health and sacramental implications of the need for clean water.
Patenaude, an engineer specializing in water-pollution control for the state Department of Environmental Management, has suggested that Rhode Island Catholics stay mindful of the Church’s teachings on water, especially this month, marked Water Infrastructure Month by several state agencies.
In calling attention to the public and private investments in clean water, state and local officials are seeking to highlight the critical role water infrastructure plays in protecting public health and promoting economic prosperity here in Rhode Island. Key issues include the wide range of agencies, initiatives, and individuals who work to keep water flowing as cost-effectively as possible, efforts at the municipal and state levels that have helped protect public health, public safety, economic growth and the environment, and the current needs and the critical funding gaps that exist for water infrastructure improvements.
“There’s a rather underappreciated host of organizations—public and private—as well as hundreds of dedicated men and women who make clean water happen every day here in Rhode Island,” Patenaude said. “Whether it’s providing clean water we can drink from the tap, keeping water pressure high enough to help firefighters do their job, or treating our wastewater to protect public health and the ecology, the efforts that go into clean water in the Ocean State need to be highlighted and kept in the public forum.”
Rhode Island Water Infrastructure Month will culminate with the airing of two important educational programs on Rhode Island PBS on October 30 from 8-10 p.m. The first, Liquid Assets: The Story of Our Water Infrastructure, is a national documentary which explores the history, engineering, and political and economic challenges of our nation's water infrastructure.
Liquid Assets will be immediately followed by Hidden Assets: Rhode Island's Water Infrastructure, an RI PBS-produced roundtable program featuring local water infrastructure experts. The panel will include W. Michael Sullivan, Ph.D., director, RI Department of Environmental Management; Pamela Marchand, chief engineer and general manager, Providence Water Supply Board; Raymond J. Marshall, PE, executive director, Narragansett Bay Commission, and Anthony Simeone, executive director, RI Clean Water Finance Agency.
