Acid rain; climate change; mercury in fish; new techniques for monitoring dioxin; Atlantic salmon as endangered species; drought; drinking water quality; sludge disposal; lake eutrophication; water quality at Acadia National Park.

Each of these water-related issues affects Maine’s economy and environment and is a current topic of research at the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at the University of Maine. However, the proposed federal budget announced recently would reduce the scope of these projects if not stop them altogether. It eliminates the national Water Resources Research Institute program that provides seed funding for this research and that serves as the core funding for the Mitchell Center and 53 other water centers around the nation.

If allowed to stand, this cut would cast a shadow on decisions affecting Maine’s environment for many years to come. For example, it would dim the chances of finding a suitable dioxin testing method for Maine and turn out the lights on a cooperative effort to protect public drinking water supplies.

The Mitchell Center receives modest federal funding from this program, about $64,000 a year. Using this funding as a base, the center acquired more than $12 million in research funding for the state in the past decade, supported 49 graduate students, and provided $280,000 in tuition revenues plus $2.3 million to support basic university operations. The center has leveraged university dollars by 17 to 1 during this period, far exceeding the 4 to 1 that the university promised the Legislature for the research and development funding several years ago.

This is a highly cost-effective program, and it needs the support of our congressional delegation to restore the WRRI funding slated for elimination in the proposed federal budget.

Despite our history as a water-rich state, we cannot take water for granted. Drought and conflicts over water are increasing every year. Water quantity and quality are an essential part of our economy. A recent Mitchell Center report by Professor Kevin Boyle estimated that Maine lakes alone provided $6 billion annually to the state’s economy – more than the state’s largest employer. As Sen. Mitchell said during the ceremony that named this center in his honor, pure water is one of the basics of human health on Earth. It is irreplaceable.

Research, education and outreach provide the people of Maine with the tools they need to understand and respond to their state’s water resource challenges. The Mitchell Center provides important support to the state in its long-term water planning, policy development and resources management efforts. The center was described by the Environmental Protection Agency as “one of the nation’s premier programs” when it was awarded the 1998 EPA Environmental Merit Award. In 1999, the U.S. Geological Survey ranked the center as one of the top four national water centers during the previous five years, and described it as a “model for national water resource centers.”

The three core functions of the university – research, education and outreach – are all key components of the center’s mission. The Mitchell Center founded a water resources option for graduate students who conduct research with state and federal agencies and water stewardship groups. After graduation, these students work for government agencies and consulting firms, many of them in Maine, helping to address the “brain drain” of young professionals.

Outreach programs focus on water education for young people. Hands-on water activities such as the Children’s Water Festival play an important role, as does teacher training and curriculum planning through Project WET (Water Education for Teachers). In 1999, the Mitchell Center won the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award in environmental education, for programs that are key partnerships with agencies and organizations. The center hosts the annual Maine Water Conference on environmental research and policy. More than 300 water professionals will attend the conference in Augusta on April 16.

The WRRI network, of which the Mitchell Center is part, is an excellent example of how consistent federal funding can leverage state, university and private support to produce an effective research, education and technology transfer program. Proposed elimination of the federal WRRI program will seriously impact the programs offered at the Mitchell Center. Graduate students will lose their funding and staff positions may be lost. Elimination of WRRI dollars will mean fewer leveraged research dollars from other sources, and fewer dollars for tuition. The loss of this modest federal program will reduce our understanding of the natural environment, and reduce the science basis that allows us to make sound policy decisions.

This commentary was submitted by Steve Kahl, director of the Senator George J. Mitchell Center for Environmental and Watershed Research at UMaine, John Peckenham, Ruth Hallsworth and other members of the staff and

students and affiliated faculty with the center.