BELCHERTOWN — An additional 20 million gallons of water a day could be pulled from the Quabbin Reservoir to supply eastern Massachusetts, a request being made by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) even as reservoir levels are receding.
The request also comes as locals are fed up, feeling shortsighted by those that rely on the water source in Boston and eastern parts of the state. The added water would help the MWRA supply multiple new communities.
“I’m not an engineer, I’m not a scientist, I’m just looking at the shoreline and it’s just incredible how much it’s receding,” Belchertown resident Ed Comeau said as the Quabbin water level has dropped more than 11 feet since spring of 2024.
State Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, said the request cannot and should not be accepted.
“Water is one of the most precious public commodities that we have so I understand that they are looking to have more pristine water, but quite frankly they can’t have it,” Comerford said.
The authority services water to 3.1 million people and more than 5,500 businesses in 61 communities in eastern and central Massachusetts. Officials at the Cambridge-based authority say the additional withdrawal won’t harm the Quabbin. The 412-billion gallon reservoir covers 39 square miles and has 181 miles of shoreline.
Even if that’s the case, Comeau still wants to see more equity for locals like himself.
“What really does bother me is that we’re all under water restrictions right here because of a drought and the MWRA communities are not,” he said.
A Level 2 significant drought was declared in the Connecticut River Valley earlier this summer by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
The fight from locals will likely be brought to a public hearing at the end of the month, when the MWRA will discuss the proposal. The public meeting is scheduled for Sept. 30 at 11 a.m., hosted at the auditorium in Belchertown Town Hall.
The request won’t surprise those familiar with the Quabbin, like Bill Pula, a Pelham resident and former superintendent of the reservoir for more than 20 years. He said the MWRA has considered drawing more water for years, a request he finds reasonable as many eastern communities deal with PFAS, or forever chemicals, in their water supply.
Pula said pulling an additional 20 million gallons a day would “probably be OK” for the Quabbin’s health, but he wants some conditions in any deal to benefit local communities. Among those are payments in lieu of taxes and PFAS regulations since valley communities also grapple with contamination.
“It’s been lower, a lot lower,” Pula said about the water level at the reservoir. “But I want more for us, for the towns out here. The 12 towns around the Quabbin deserve better.”
The additional 20 million gallons a day would represent a 10% increase in withdrawal from the reservoir, which currently supplies an average of 200 million daily, though that number changes based on the season according to an analysis published in February.
The MWRA did not respond to requests for comment for a phone interview Tuesday, instead responding by email.
The response said the MWRA system has a safe yield of approximately 300 million gallons a day, calling it a “significant storage capacity” that can “manage changes in daily and seasonal water use while maintaining a reliable supply.”
Demand once exceeded 300 million gallons a day, which the MWRA said has declined even as new communities have joined because of water conservation efforts, changes to plumbing codes, technology advances and decreased use by water-intensive industries.
Politicians have questions
State Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Belchertown, called the proposal a “blank check,” saying more questions need to be answered about where the water would be going.
“Access to water is the connective tissue for the future of the commonwealth,” Saunders said. “Every single bit of our economy and our life is dependent on having access to water and it would only follow that we would treat the access, impact and benefits of how that water moves in a way that’s equitable.”
Saunders said a discussion needs to be had regarding how the water — a western Massachusetts resource — is being used to boost economic development like housing out east, while local communities have their own economic hurdles.
Comerford said it’s “deeply ironic that this proposal is coming at a moment of great drought and concern about water level.”
She said the proposal would override the 1984 Interbasin Transfer Act, which was specifically put in place to ensure a “transparent, accountable and equitable” stewardship of water bodies like the Quabbin. Comerford said the proposal is another move in a pattern from the MWRA of disregarding the financial and water-life stability of western Massachusetts communities.
“The very reason why subverting the Interbasin Transfer Act is a bad idea is because we can’t assume in this volatile climate that we have adequate water resources,” Comerford said.
Comerford and Saunders currently have legislation filed, An Act relative to the Quabbin Watershed and regional equity, that would create a fund to support local communities along with several other actions. Gov. Maura Healey also voiced support for Quabbin communities just last month.
“As you know, the creation of the Quabbin Reservoir resulted in many sacrifices by this region,” she wrote. “Every day, these watershed communities provide an invaluable public service to the communities served by the MWRA system.”
