There's a push to protect Maine's abundant groundwater as more places deal with scarcity

Maine’s water resources have come under heightened scrutiny amid climate change, the megadrought threatening the Colorado River, smaller seasonal droughts that have challenged Maine food growers and dried up some wells, and growing awareness of contamination from PFAS and other chemicals. Officials insist that water is plentiful, but some residents argue Maine has fallen behind in its oversight and should take a more active role in protecting it going forward. Those concerns prompted the Legislature to convene a commission to study Maine’s water resources last year, and its final report included several recommendations for more oversight that have been proposed as legislation.