THE BOTTOM RAIL

by: Verbal Shredwright

The secret is out... maybe it's not a secret or never really was in the age of social media. The disappointing winter snowfall has turned into a challenge for summer water resources not just recreation. So, beyond rooting for rain, the monsoon or trading snow dances for rain dances... what can be done? Maybe perception needs a reality check for starters. A lot of mountain resort towns have state of the art water treatment facilities. In some instances even better than some big cities. The same facilities add chlorine, fluoride and other "treatments" to tap water. So, when they advocate for bring your water bottle or promote filling stations you are more than likely getting treated tap water just like at home.

But was the intent to market fresh mountain water flowing from every tap and filling station? Well… eh… probably not. It's likely that it was a scam to ease the opposition to eliminate plastic water bottles. It doesn't take long for anyone paying attention to realize every other beverage comes in plastic and most are a lot worse for you than bottled water. The same logic banned plastic bags when most packaging is plastic. Is it time to reconsider the ban on bottled water? Maybe temporarily during epic drought conditions? Many believe more eco-friendly packaging and the investments in recycling make these bans more political than purposeful today. No matter what camp you're in… the drought remains reality. So, the question is…. in the face of one of the worse snow packs in the last 100 years, rationing and rate increases... will Colorado resort towns double down on their plastic water bottle propaganda and policies?