Water Authority ignores crisis

Public safety demands that the Erie County Water Authority install emergency power capability.

The recent news that we were hours away from losing water from the October surprise storm is shocking.

I've paid water bills for more than 35 years in this county and always took for granted that we had a dependable water supply. I can recall many bill inserts where the authority touted itself as "one of the best in the country." I believed this claim.

Then the October 2006 surprise storm hit. So much for the claim.

I think the authority's lackadaisical approach to backup power for critical pumps lacks urgency and breaches the contract it has with the public as a "public benefit" corporation. To date no comprehensive plan has been formulated.

This authority needs to have more accountability. It needs to have on its board responsible people who are accountable to the consumer and to the voters.

Backup generators should be a top priority, with a solution implemented in months not years. Anybody that has the least bit of understanding of what global warming is doing to our climate knows that we must prepare for wild, erratic weather. And those of us residing on the edge of the nation's largest snow squall generator have a special responsibility to prepare.

We need the emergency water backup power now, not after a second more potent tragedy hits.

Stephen B. Voigt Bridgehampton Circle

Williamsville