Remembering Bill McCann

We're saddened to note the death of Bill McCann, New Hampshire organizer for the Alliance's Defending Water for Life campaign. Bill was badly injured this winter and despite several months of rehabilitative care, passed away May 6.

Defending Water for Life campaign coordinator Ruth Caplan recalled, "I first met Bill in 2005 at a gathering of US/Canada water activists in Traverse City Michigan. We bonded around the idea that water is a fundamental right for people and nature, a right to be protected by local communities. Thanks to Bill, this idea was brought to NH and within a year, Barnstead passed the first ordinance in the country declaring water to be a fundamental right which could not be taken away by corporations. Now there are four such ordinances in New Hampshire and two in Maine.

"Bill worked with Defending Water for Life for the next six years. His work on protecting NH's groundwater is just one of many legacies he has left to future generations. It was a gift to know and work with him.

"Thank you Bill! May we all be inspired by you and carry on your work."