An environmental lawyer called on Tuesday for New Brunswick to be the first Canadian province to enshrine into law the right to clean water, while a forestry executive warned against regulations that would hurt the economy.

Richelle Martin, one of three lawyers at East Coast Environmental Law, told nearly a dozen legislators Tuesday the lack of such a law can result in unequal access to the precious resource.

“This protection of the right to clean water will recognize the importance of water for human health and well-being,” Martin told a legislature committee in Fredericton that is considering ways to update the Clean Water Act.