Giving access and permission…

Giving access and permission to use water for commercial production is irresponsible. Groundwater is one of our most important sources of water for irrigation. It can also become easily contaminated and is extremely susceptible to pollutants making it unfit for human use. Surface water cannot recharge without groundwater. Clean groundwater is important to the environment and to the whole planet. When groundwater is present, this water naturally refills and recharge our natural ecosystems. However, when groundwater is contaminated or not present at all, the natural environment, animals, people can suffer significantly. Gravel extraction causes changes in seepwater and groundwater quality as well as in the elevation of the groundwater table and its variation. Acid rain flushes the soil, increasing the quantity of dissolved salts and seepwater and groundwater quality variations. The composition of water in groundwater ponds varies in the same way as that of surface water, seasonally. The great variations in the quality of pond water increase the variations in groundwater quality. Gravel extraction increases the pollution risk of groundwater and may cause difficulties in the treatment of the water abstracted from a groundwater intake. Heavy metals and easily degrading organic substances as well as viruses and bacteria are retained relatively well in the natural areas but retention is weaker in areas where the gravel had been exposed. In short, once our natural environment has been altered, it will never go back to the perfect ecosystem it once was. The stability of groundwater quality is impaired as a result of gravel extraction. Allowing the cleaning and extraction of gravel can have serious impacts on environment, animals and people living in the surrounding areas and should not be allowed to occur. [Original Comment ID: 212379]