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Water conservers seek a comback
By MOLLY MOORHEAD DADE CITY -- The folks with the Coalition to Save East Pasco are going to need new letterhead and bumper stickers. This week, the grass-roots water conservation group changed its name to the Coalition to Preserve Our Water Resources, or CoPOWR. Founding member Pat Carver said Wednesday the new name is more in line with the group's mission to protect water across the region -- not just in Pasco -- and encourage the development of alternate water sources. "It gives a broader vision," Carver said. "We're interested in protecting all the groundwater in Hillsborough and Pasco counties." The group hasn't been heard from much since the mid 1990s, when it fought efforts to build a gas pipeline and pump groundwater out of east Pasco County to points south. But Carver, who lives in Dade City, reassembled the forces this month to plunge into the water fight again. This time, the call to battle isn't just in reaction to Tampa Bay Water's eye toward east Pasco water, but also a reaction to a private consortium -- the Water Group -- that has been attempting to forge a union of landholders and then sell water to Tampa Bay Water. Carver said her group will encourage authorities to find alternative water sources, such as desalination and reuse. To spread the word of the name change, the group will soon send out letters to supporters and people who were involved in the 1990s. Carver is confident there is still widespread support for preservation. "In general, the public is in sympathy with our purpose and goals," she said. Among the people CoPOWR will try to reach are like-minded activists in Hillsborough County. "Our goal now is to just have one main group, to have one strong stand," she said. So with a new name, and possibly a much larger base of support, Carver said CoPOWR can have a palpable impact on preserving the region's water. "We're wanting to all to join hands," she said. "We all stand for the same goal, and that's no new pumping."
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From today's Pasco Times |
