Maude Barlow, international water activist, will kick-off Plymouth State’s Water Week with a free public talk. Maude is the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians and author of 16 books, including Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water. If you haven’t heard Maude speak before, this is your opportunity to learn about the state of the world’s water and what you can do to take action to protect it. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/events/112374202286496/

A free screening of the award-winning documentary “Tapped” will be hosted by the Canterbury, NH Transition Town committee March 26, 2013, 7 p.m., at the Canterbury Parish Hall (behind the Canterbury Country Store). Arnie Alpert from the NH American Friends Service Committee will lead a discussion after the film. The film by Stephanie Soechtig asks is access to drinking water a right or is it a commodity that can be mined from one community and sold to others? The film features many people from Maine who have stood up to protect water from the Swiss mulitnational Nestle Waters North America’s Poland Spring water bottling operations.

The re-scheduled public hearing will be held for Senate Bill 167 on this date. The bill, sponsored by Senator John Reagan, would amend the Groundwater Protection Act, RSA 485-C by deleting large groundwater withdrawals as an exception to the authority of municipalities to enact local ordinances and regulations affecting groundwater. We suggested you check the Senate’s webpage or call committee staff person Chris Cote to confirm the hearing date/time, 603-271-3067.

If you cannot be at the hearing in person, and want to register your opinion about this amendment, you can write or call members of the committee this week, preferably before the hearing. You can also send written testimony to the committee. If you are coming to the hearing, be sure to sign in at the door and register your position on the  amendment. Be prepared to wait if necessary as sometimes committee hearings run late (this is why it is a good idea to bring your statement in writing along with 6 copies for members of the committee; you can leave it with the staff person or clerk of the committee).

USA Springs, Inc. owner Francesco Rotondo filed for personal bankruptcy in February 2013. The creditors meeting is legally required and is open to the public. Metered parking is available on adjacent streets and a public parking garage is located directly behind the court building ( you will need a credit card to pay).

The New Hampshire Water Sustainability Commission will present its final report to Gov. John Lynch at a new conference in Concord, NH. The public and members of the media are invited. For more information visit: http://www.nh.gov/water-sustainability/

A meeting of USA Springs, Inc.’s creditors is continued on this date. The meeting takes place at Room 702, 7th Floor, 1000 Elm Street, Manchester, NH (same building as the bankruptcy court). Attend the meeting to stay informed about the bid for the company’s assets and to learn what the creditors’ positions are about the proposed deal. We encourage you to call the court to confirm the day of the meeting just in case it is postponed. The case number is 08-11816 USA Springs, Inc. and the bankruptcy court’s number is 603-222-2600. The trustee for the USA Springs, Inc. case is Timothy P. Smith, 603-623-0036.

SOG is delighted to welcome back Maude Barlow, our friend and ally in water justice for a public talk about global water issues and solutions. Maude is the author of numerous books, including  Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Battle for the Right to Water (2007) and the national chairperson of the Council of Canadians, Canada’s largest citizens’ action organization. The free event takes place from 6:30-9 p.m. at the Fellowship Hall of the Community Church of Durham, 17 Main Street, Durham, NH. Light supper refreshments will be served 6:30-7 p.m. with Ms. Barlow’s talk beginning at 7 p.m. There is free parking at the site, but we encourage you to car-pool if possible.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court holds meeting of creditors of USA Springs, Inc. The meeting takes place at 1000 Elm Street, 7th Floor, Room 702, Manchester, NH. Bankruptcy court proceedings are open to the public.

Please visit the NH Water Sustainability Commission’s website for the written public comment form: http://www.nh.gov/water-sustainability/

“Qualified offers” will be sent confidentially to USA Springs, Inc. attorneys and/or financial advisors per “Bid Solicitation and Sale Procedures” of the bankruptcy court order.

Save Our Groundwater’s annual meeting takes place in the Community Room of the Blaisdell Memorial Library, 129 Stage Road (Route 152) in Nottingham, NH. Updates about the USA Springs, Inc. case, organizational business, and more. Light refreshments will be provided. Come meet your “watershed neighbors” and bring a friend.

Per US Bankruptcy Court Judge Deasy’s May 21, 2012 order, the search for ‘qualified bids’ opens for the Delaware corporation USA Springs, Inc. scheduled auction on July 20.

What needs to be done to have enough clean water for future generations? Join the statewide public conversation about water sustainability in New Hampshire and let your voice be heard. The event takes place in five locations around the state and you must register to participate. For more information and to register, please visit: http://www.carseyinstitute.unh.edu/nhlistens/water.htm

The NH Rivers Council invites you to join a focus session on shoreland protection standards at the Urban Forestry Center in Portsmouth. Our state’s Comprehensive Shoreland Protection Act was greatly changed by the last legislative session. The Shorelands Advisory Committee is exploring separate standards for rivers, lakes and tidal waters. For more information and to pre-register, visit:http://www.nhrivers.org/focus-group/

Malom Group AG, the Swiss investing firm that says it wants to give USA Springs, Inc. $60 million to come out of bankruptcy filed a motion to extend the effective date of the company’s bankruptcy plan to the end of March. If it is approved, this will be the seventh deadline extension by our count. The plan was due to expired February 29, 2012. We encourage you to go watch our justice system at work. Hearings are open to the public. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court is located at 1000 Elm St., 11th Floor, Manchester, NH. A public parking garage is right behind the building. We encourage you to call ahead as hearings may be rescheduled due to last minute motions; the court’s number is 603-222-2600 and the case number is 08-11612.

Save Our Groundwater’s motion concerning the redaction of foreign investor information is scheduled to take place Thursday, December 15 at 10:00 a.m. in the USA Springs, Inc. bankruptcy case # 08-11816. Also at this hearing, USA Springs, Inc. is seeking a fourth extension on their loan agreement with Malom Group, AG, a Swiss financial firm to January 6, 2012. Bankruptcy hearings are open to the public. The court is located at 1000 Elm St., 11th Floor, Manchester, NH. We encourage you to call ahead as hearings may be rescheduled due to last minute motions; the court’s number is 603-222-2600.

A USA Springs, Inc. bankruptcy hearing (case number 08-11816) to extend the deadline for the company’s Fifth Amended Bankruptcy Plan is scheduled to take place November 18, 2011 at 1:30 p.m.The Malom Group AG ‘bridge loan’ was to have closed by Oct. 3 but failed to do so. Additional Malom loans to the company were to have cleared by Oct. 31 but did not.

Court hearings are open to the public. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court is located at 1000 Elm St., 11th Floor, Manchester, NH. We advise calling the court ahead as hearings in this case are often rescheduled due to a last minute motion; the number is 603-222-2600.

The US Bankruptcy Court in Manchester, NH will hold a hearing October 24 at 1:30 pm concerning various attorney and consultant fee requests. The court is located at: 1000 Elm St., Manchester, NH, 11th floor, Courtroom 2. The hearing is open to the public. We suggest that you call ahead to be sure it has not been postponed. The court’s number is 603-222-2600 and the case number is 08-11816; ask for the case manager. If you go to the hearing, please share your notes with SOG by sending an email to saveourgroundwater [at] gmail [dot] com.