CRWA in the News

DEP sets off water fight 

By Claudia Torrens, Daily News Transcript 

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

As the state pushes to restrict the amount of water towns use, MetroWest officials and local state legislators are pushing back by saying they need more water for their residents.

The Department of Environmental Protection could restrict how much water the 15 towns draw from the Upper Charles River basin in the next few months, limiting usage to 65 gallons per person per day. As many towns grow and vary their water use from year to year, some state and MetroWest officials are calling the measure unreasonable.

"It seems restrictive. It would require us to reduce more than 10 percent of our usage," said yesterday Holliston Town Administrator Paul LeBeau.

Holliston had an average usage of 75.6 gallons per day per person last year.

The towns that use the Upper Charles River basin are Millis, Milford, Franklin, Bellingham, Medway, Dover, Medfield, Holliston, Natick, Needham, Norfolk, Sherborn, Wellesley, Walpole and Wrentham.

Ed Coletta, spokesman for DEP, said every five years water basins are reviewed and towns must then renew their water pumping permits. The Upper Charles River basin will be reviewed either this or next year and restrictions could then be applied.

"We need to balance the use of water," said Coletta. "We need to make sure there is enough water to be used by communities."

Coletta said the basin is "stressed," meaning that because of pavement and development, rainwater is not absorbed by the soil and washes away. Several basins across the state are similarly threatened because of development.

Some state legislators, however, say the DEP is operating without authority because the department needs to hold public hearings and publish draft regulations before moving forward with the restrictions.

"None of that has happened," said state Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick. "We will consider taking legislative action against DEP if we have to."

State Sen. Scott Brown, R-Wrentham, was very clear on Monday night when during a Natick Board of Selectmen meeting he encouraged the town to take action.

"You guys have to get involved because these guys (DEP) are out of control," Brown told selectmen.

State Rep. Alice Peisch, D-Wellesley, said yesterday she is very concerned that the DEP will refuse to issue water withdrawal renewal licenses at the same level as originally issued.

"This appears to be in direct conflict with the controlling statute," said Peisch.

If DEP moves forward with water restrictions, Millis will be in trouble.

The town had an average use of 71 gallons per day per person last year and it will take several years for the level to reach the 65 gallon limit the state proposes, said Town Administrator Charles Aspinwall.

"We are concerned with the science behind that number, 65 gallons," said Aspinwall. "We are also concerned with the implementation period. DEP says we need to reach that level in one year. They are asking to do this overnight, but this is a long educational process."

Water bans could be the norm in these towns next year, several town administrators said. Otherwise, DEP could fine communities that do not respect the limit, said Natick Town Administrator Phil Lemnios.

Towns that actually draw water from two different basins have questions that DEP so far has not answered, added Lemnios. Natick takes water from the Charles River Watershed and the Sudbury-Acton Watershed, therefore the town needs to know if the 65 gallons per per day per person applies just for one basin.

"The level they are asking for is unreasonably low," said Natick selectmen Chairman Jay Ball. "There has been no opportunity for public comment and we need to comment on this."

Natick currently has an average use of slightly below 65 gallons per day per person, Lemnios said.

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