The issue: Drinking water.
We suggest: Keep it clean.
There is a growing problem in our areaís waterways -- most notably Bayou Lafourche, which supplies much of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes with their drinking water.
State environmental officials have detected fecal coliform, a dangerous bacterium, in Bayou Lafourche.
The substance gets into waterways through runoff from farms, from nutria and from backed up septic systems at private homes.
In Terrebonne Parish, an estimated 40 percent of the homes use septic systems. The number also is high in Lafourche Parish, but the problem is different.
Homeowners in Terrebonne Parish are required to undergo annual inspections and certification by the local government.
That process helps to ensure that most of the septic systems are functioning properly and that waste from those systems isnít washing into area waterways.
In Lafourche, there is no such requirement.
That means that unless homeowners take it upon themselves to find and fix problems in their systems, they can continue to pollute the water.
There is no easy answer, of course.
Inspections could present a sizeable expense for Lafourcheís government or for the landowners who must have their systems certified.
But what is the alternative?
The state Department of Environmental Quality has said it might push Lafourche Parish to hire septic-system inspectors and to institute fines for polluters.
Local officials, meanwhile, say that hiring enough inspectors to cover the entire parish would be very expensive. And who would pay for it? The landowners who use the private septic systems have some responsibility, but the cost might be too great for many people to bear.
Some have suggested that federal money might be the answer. With enough money, the parish could build a sewerage system or hire enough inspectors to make sure the patchwork system in place functions properly.
No one likes the idea of instituting another expensive government program, the likely result of building parishwide drainage or instituting parishwide septic inspections.
But no one likes the idea of drinking contaminated water, either.
This might be an area where, like the system of building-code inspections, a regional approach could make a lot of sense.
If Terrebonne has a system that works, letís see if that system could be bolstered to include other parishes without the startup costs Lafourche might incur if it forged ahead on its own.
Failing that, there could be federal money available for a crucial purpose such as cleaning up our drinking water.
Ultimately, though, we might be in for some painful and expensive decisions.
After all, if faulty septic systems are poisoning our water supply, someone must fix the system.
Editorials represent the opinion of The Courier and Daily Comet and not of any one individual. Questions or comments concerning editorials may be addressed to the Editor, P.O. Box 2717, Houma, LA 70361 or e-mail at: firstname.lastname@example.org.
Cost stands in way of clean drinking water
The issue: Drinking water.