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Preserving Massachusetts In the NewsThe Boston Globe - 2009-10-18
Rethink policy on river water (new window)THE STATE has a new policy on how much water towns can use from rivers, but it could leave some, like the Ipswich and the upper Charles, so depleted that fish would be imperiled. Officials should go back to the drawing board and make sure that their definition of what would constitute a “safe yield’’ would leave enough water for the trout and other wildlife that are ever more rare in Eastern Massachusetts. The abundance of water in the Quabbin Reservoir can easily create a false impression that Massachusetts is a brimming basin of liquid. In fact, many communities in the eastern part of the state choose to rely on streams and the underground aquifers that feed them for their basic water needs. The pressure on these sources from residential and commercial development has caused some rivers to become so dry in summer that they cannot support aquatic life, not to mention swimming, tubing, and other forms of recreation. The Patrick administration’s new policy on water removal, announced last week, so infuriated four environmental organizations that they resigned from the state’s Water Resources Management Advisory Committee. Leaders of the groups complain that the state did not consult with the committee on the new policy. In response, state officials argue that the legal term “safe yield’’ merely defines a bare-bones level of water that must be maintained in a river under drought conditions. In practice, removal permits would be based on 10 factors, including the ecological and economic effects of taking water out of a river, stream, or well. But the environmental organizations worry that by the time criteria are established for individual rivers the stressed watersheds could be dangerously depleted. All of this is taking place at a time when the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s Quabbin Reservoir has surplus capacity. The state could help protect its threatened rivers and streams by encouraging more communities to turn to the MWRA for some if not all of their water supply. Most important of all, it should also spur municipalities to undertake more conservation measures. In the meantime, the state should stick to a definition of “safe yield’’ that ensures the safety of vulnerable plants and animals. |