Where once the Ipswich River ran, there is now a dry dirt bed.  During the summer, the riverbed is  often used for dirt biking.

CRWA Files Suit Against the Department of Environmental Protection for Failure to Comply with the Water Management Act

CRWA has teamed up with the Ipswich River Watershed Association (IRWA), Essex County Greenbelt Association, a land trust, and 12 concerned citizens to sue the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for its permitting of water withdrawals in the Ipswich River basin. The complaint, filed in Salem Superior Court on April 11, 2003, alleges that DEP has failed to comply with the state Water Management Act (WMA) and its own rules which regulate water withdrawals greater than 100,000 gallons per day. CRWA's general counsel, Margaret Van Deusen, is representing the plaintiffs in this lawsuit.

Recent government studies have shown that the primary cause of the Ipswich's dire condition is water withdrawals. Streamflow depends on the groundwater that supplies it. Municipal water withdrawals in the Ipswich basin collectively average about 30 million gallons per day. DEP is charged with regulating these withdrawals to ensure a balance among water uses and protection of the water resource itself. However, DEP's WMA permitting decisions have failed to achieve these goals, and it has given resource protection, habitat and recreational uses short shrift. A broad Ipswich stakeholder group has recommended a number of measures that would result in better river protection. 

Because water permits are issued for an extraordinarily long 20-year period, the WMA requires DEP to review the permits every five years, and, if permit conditions are not adequate or the "safe yield" of the basin is being exceeded, to modify the permits. While DEP has known about the impact of water withdrawals on the Ipswich River for some time, it was reluctant to take definitive action to address the low flow issues. Last fall, we notified DEP of our intent to sue for its failure to conduct the five-year reviews of the Ipswich permits and modify them. While DEP is now conducting those reviews, we are not convinced that DEP will issue strong and effective modified permits without a lawsuit. 

CRWA believes that the Ipswich permits are critical to establishing a sustainable water management program and to developing a comprehensive water policy for Massachusetts. The science on streamflows for fish and habitat that has been developed for the Ipswich must now be incorporated into the permits themselves. 

The future health of the Charles River is closely linked to the Ipswich WMA outcomes. The upper Charles watershed is becoming highly stressed, and the Ipswich water permits will set the bar for permits in the Charles basin. Dwindling water supplies already require upper watershed communities to impose water use restrictions and bans in the summer months. Greater water demand, coupled with development and increased impervious surfaces, which lessen the ability of rainwater to recharge groundwater, are impacting stream flows and species diversity in the Charles River. 

This is one of the most important issues we face and CRWA will continue to fight for a balance between competing water uses and for protection and preservation of the river itself.