In Massachusetts, a proposal to move an additional 20 million gallons of water a day from a reservoir is drawing fierce backlash.
As WAMC reports, the western Mass. towns entrusted with stewarding the Quabbin Reservoir are once again raising questions of equity as state officials collect feedback.
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About two months after packing the Quabbin’s visitor center, community members filled Belchertown’s town hall to, again, sound off on how the state handles the 412 billion gallon reservoir.
At stake this time is a recent proposal by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority – one to extract an additional 20 million gallons a day from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoir system to supply drinking water farther east.
Members of the Quabbin Watershed communities have more than a few concerns, like 7th Hampden State Rep. Aaron Saunders.
“The MWRA's attempt to leverage the very law designed to protect our communities, to instead deprive us from basic information about a proposed transfer, adds immeasurable insult to generations of injury,” he said to a room of just over 130 in-person attendees, as well as the state’s Water Resources Commission. “I urge the commission to reject this application. Thank you for being here today, and thank you for listening to the concerns of the Quabbin communities.”
Saunders and others say the proposal flies in the face of precedent set by the Interbasin Transfer Act – a law governing how water and wastewater can be transferred from various basins in the state.
The Belchertown Democrat and others contend that, when an application for water extraction is floated, details on who exactly is getting the water usually come with it.
Locals say that’s not the case this time, including New Salem Town Coordinator Emily Hill.
“They're also not planning to tell us where this water is going to be going, which is kind of the whole point of the Interbasin Transfer Act, so we have some concerns about where this water is going and if this is actually essential to be moving this water,” Hill said.
The coordinator and others spoke at a public hearing put on by the state’s Water Resources Commission Wednesday – one intended for feedback in general.
The MWRA has indicated the extra 20 million gallons are intended for communities looking to join the MWRA system – about 60 towns and cities as is, including a handful from western Mass.
The authority has also said the reservoir system’s safe yield is about 300 million gallons a day.
But, locals say the request comes at a time when the reservoir is at one of its lowest points in recent memory – just under 80% capacity.
In addition to that, Hill says it’s particularly frustrating given how towns like New Salem and others are not able to tap into the reservoir themselves – even when 90% of New Salem is part of the watershed.
“We're required to be creative with where we're getting our water from. New Salem is digging a new well because our well’s dried up. These things are not things that eastern communities have to do,” Hill claimed. “Not only that, but the fee is currently waived for eastern communities to join the MWRA, which gives them no reason to look at other options, wherein towns out here are required to look at other options - we're not offered a spot with the MWRA, and that's just very inequitable.”
It's a long-lingering issue for Quabbin communities – it’s partly what’s been fueling an ongoing campaign to get the state to increase its payment in lieu of taxes funding for watershed towns that also serve as stewards.
For Belchertown Select Board Member Lesa Lessard Pearson, the latest proposal is troubling, given the amount of water restrictions towns like hers already face.
“Why are the stewards of this water the ones that have to institute water bans while we look at distributing yet another 20 million gallons to communities that we don't know,” she posited. “We have no idea what their needs are. Have they explored conservation measures or other water sources? It’ not clear to me.”
Pearson told WAMC Wednesday that towns like Belchertown are ultimately looking for a fair shake. She said Quabbin communities like hers have potential to make a difference in various state issues like housing – but they need investment.
“The quandary for me is that we're investing in communities way outside of Western Mass, to help them solve those same problems without having that same equity here in Western Massachusetts,” the select board member said. “There is certainly an argument to be made about balancing, because we are part of the Commonwealth, and what we want to see demonstrated is that the Commonwealth is with us just as much as they are with every other community in the state.”
Those points and more were raised to the Water Resources Commission Wednesday. It’s ultimately the water commission that will decide on the extraction increase, with a “draft decision” expected around fall or early winter, according to WRC Executive Director Vandana Rao.
Before the decision, the commission is collecting written feedback until Oct. 7 – feedback that Rao says will be taken to heart and shared amongst decision-makers.
State Sen. Jake Oliveira was among the lawmakers Wednesday who contended that, before any vote happens, the commission needs to “get clear guidance of what communities are going to be accessing” the additional water and why – per the Interbasin Transfer Act.
“The spirit of the law is intentionally being broken right now and if this makes its way to a court of law, I guarantee that [the court] would probably side with legislators and the spirit of the law from 1983,” he said from the podium, clad in a shirt bearing Belchertown’s name. “Representative Saunders already clearly stated that this is the largest extraction of water that's been attempted from the Quabbin Reservoir … under this statute since its inception and since it [went into] effect in 1984. Before we make any determination to approve this, I would ask that we get clear guidance from the MWRA on which communities are applying for it and why they're applying for it.”
Water resource officials have indicated that, due to regulation changes in 2018, applications like the current 20-million-gallon proposal are permissible.
Rao said that, as it stands, the commission can “look at a single volume for multiple receiving areas versus multiple smaller requests of volume.”
However, as Oliveira told WAMC in a phone interview Thursday, he takes issue with said changes.
“That was a policy change – that wasn't a law change. It's my contention that if the spirit of the Interbasin Transfer Act is not being followed, a court of law could actually look at this and say that regulators might be not following the legislative intent,” the Hampden, Hampshire and Worcester district Democrat re-emphasized.
Rao also emphasized Wednesday that, despite the regulation changes, authorities in Massachusetts have not stopped thoroughly reviewing towns looking to join water systems.
“This process does not diminish what the commission has always been doing in terms of ensuring that the water really is used in the most efficient manner,” the executive director said. “Currently, as it relates to the MWRA system, we already have Sherborn before the commission, and Wayland, Weymouth and Natick are three other communities that are currently in the MEPA process - going through environmental review, all seeking water from the MWRA system.”
In a statement to WAMC, an official with the state’s Executive Office of Environmental Affairs said the office appreciated the comments shared at Wednesday’s hearing and that the input would be carefully considered.
The statement went on to say:
“We recognize the unique history and sacrifices of the Quabbin communities and are grateful for their longstanding stewardship of this critical resource. We remain committed to working with these communities and ensuring their concerns are heard throughout this process.”
In addition to regulating authorities like the MWRA, the EEA’s own Secretary, Rebecca Tepper, chairs the MWRA’s board.
Tepper, as well as Governor Maura Healey, have previously signaled support for revisiting Quabbin-related matters like, PILOT payments. The governor said as much when speaking with reporters a month ago.
“I've always felt like the Quabbin communities have given so much to the state. - the eastern part of Massachusetts would not have clean drinking water were it not for the sacrifice and the commitment and the good stewardship of the Quabbin communities,” Healey said in mid-August. “That's why I said we've got to do a few things. One, I set up a commission to look at this. Second, asked the MWRA to contribute money to the towns - $50,000 every year while we work through this. I think that the Quabbin should have representation on the MWRA.”
AT the end of the day, though, it’s support that can’t come soon enough, locals posit. Like Pearson, Mim Plavin Masterman says it’s one thing to be a reservoir steward with limited benefits – but to have to deal with water restrictions the other side of the state rarely shoulders is another.
“Conservation seems to mean something really different if you're in the west or if you're in the east - the eastern towns don't have to follow the seasonal water restrictions that we do,” the Belchertown resident said. “It feels a lot like we're subsidizing their growth and they get to run their sprinklers all day long, and we're all sitting here on water bans - it feels really unfair.”
