By the time this article reaches the membership, the year 2000 will before long, be just a memory. It will be interesting to see how history reports this turn of the century. We may now, after the fact, find humor in the way the media painted a picture of sure gloom and doom, about the collapse of society, as we know it. Thankfully, they were wrong. People in key places, quietly went about their daily business, and kept America running. But the point to be considered from this, is the awesome power of visual media and the printed word. The public tends to believe what they see and read, and accept it as fact, without questioning the source.

Short term problems having the potential to cause harm in isolated cases, are many times reported to cause sickness or death in every area of the country, even where no problems have occurred. Sensationalism sells.

Although most of us were not too keen on the idea of CCR’s and Annual Water Quality Reports, they do offer a great way to counter rumors and/or falsehoods about your own water system. Though most of us don’t like to, it also gave us a chance to "blow our own horn", so to speak, about the jobs we do and the projects we plan to do for the future.

The year 2001 will undoubtedly bring more challenges for the Board and Staff of New York Rural Water Association and other utility organizations to counter negative claims as to the safety of drinking water and the proper handling of wastewater and solid waste. We will continue to be your voice to advocate common sense implication of new rules and regulations, work to improve member services, and with proper funding, increase our field staff to expand our technical assistance to you, the membership. I look forward to doing my part in helping make 2001 a great year for New York Rural Water Association.

See you in Kerhonkson, at the Technical Conference!