Forever eager to understand what fresh hell Donald Trump has in store for us, I, like many other folks, frequently check my search engine  for an update. Today I came across an article discussing His Nibs’ America First obsession, and how it doesn’t seem to matter that the self-branded products from which he and his family draw a handsome income  are only rarely made in America. 

No surprise there.

What did surprise me was the discovery that Trump Water is sourced from the sparkling waters of our own home state!

Now, you may recall as I do that, in kinder, gentler times (2008) Vermonters were growing quite concerned about the activity of bottling operations in the state. Disputes arose between enterprising landowners and their surrounding neighbors over the ease with which water could be withdrawn at an alarming rate from the shared aquifer simply by sucking it out through the property of a single user.

There was even a legislative attempt to limit the impact of such profligate schemes, led by the Vermont Natural Resources Council.  The effort resulted in a 3-year moratorium on commercial extraction and bottling.  In the meantime, the plan was to map the existing aquifers.

“It’s no longer an under-the-radar issue,” said Jon Groveman, the general counsel of the Vermont Natural Resources Council. “There is now a sense that groundwater is finite and needs to be protected.”

I remember some movement to get a water issue placed on town ballots in order to declare local aquifers a public resource and therefore not salable to private enterprise.  I have no idea how much was finally accomplished toward mapping the aquifers, but I suspect rather little, as funding for environmental initiatives soon after dropped precipitously.

As we experience the drought of 2018 we would do well to remember those concerns once again.

I don’t know who is bottling Vermont water for Donald Trump, but whomever it is ought to be ashamed of diverting a public resource in order to enrich a public nuisance.