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TRENTON – Senator Bob Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, the Chair of the Senate Environment Committee, issued the following statement today regarding the panel’s hearing over water supply issues and the need to fund infrastructure improvements to protect against the next drought:

“Today’s hearing was extraordinarily helpful in framing the need to protect and preserve our State’s water supply. All the facts point to one irrefutable truth — unless we invest in the water infrastructure and efforts to conserve our water supply, New Jersey is in some very serious trouble.

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Bob Smith which would create the “New Jersey Clean Water, Drought Mitigation and Water Resource Trust Fund” to provide a stable funding source for Statewide and local water quality purposes was approved by the Senate Environment Committee today by a vote of 3-0.

“New Jersey’s clean water is absolutely vital to the continued health and vitality of the Garden State,” said Senator Smith, D-Middlesex and Somerset, Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee. “We need a stable funding mechanism to pay for the programs and projects that are essential in protecting and preserving our drinking water supply. By establishing this fund, we will ensure that we have the necessary economic resources to protect our natural resources today and into the future.”