Ready for a cocktail? Just turn on the tap—tap water, that is—and enjoy a refreshing mix of manganese, carbon tetrachloride, sodium and chloride. With a new blanket of snowfall last week, already contaminated local water received an extra dash of road salt. Though the city has endeavored to reduce use of road salt, Madison still suffers from a growing water-quality problem.
Winter weather, low-sodium roads and upset motorists sparked the most recent water quality debate, but the problem is not a fair- or foul-weather issue. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the city has monitored and controlled road salt application for more than 30 years, aiming to reduce salt use by 50 percent from 1972 levels.
This figure seems curious considering Madison exceeded 1972 levels as recently as last winter, while concentrations of sodium in three known wells exceeded the level advised for individuals on low-sodium diets 18 times in the past 16 years. If the problem is ongoing and problem solving likewise, then the current paradigm needs to change.
In light of the recent water protection effort reducing use of road salt, frustrated drivers opposed to the plan make a valid point—it scarcely makes sense to compromise present safety in hopes that local water will someday contain less sodium. Temporary water protection solutions, including the current effort to reduce road salt, ultimately fail to protect Madison's population.
Rather, Madison needs a comprehensive and aggressive plan to clean up city water. It may involve high costs and uncomfortable changes, but it seems worthwhile to pay a higher water bill if it means protecting the environment and public health.
Hopefully, a reasonable proposal will come from the city's Salt Use Subcommittee, which is set to present proposals for better protection of Madison's water supply. The subcommittee should take their case beyond the confines of the council and ask the public for input on how to save local waters.
So far, 30 years of good intentions have failed to translate to positive outcomes. Madison needs a solution before Erin Brockovich turns up and finds frogs with fins and fish with legs.
