BOSTON — As the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority deals with resistance to its request to withdraw more water from the Quabbin and Wachusett system, the state’s environmental secretariat is playing a key role at both the water authority and the commission that is vetting the controversial request.
Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper chairs the MWRA Board and Water Resources Commission Executive Director Vandana Rao, who is EEA’s director of water policy, is Tepper’s designee on the Water Resources Commission. State law names the EEA secretary as commission chair, but the secretary may appoint a designee.
“I think the structure of both entities needs to be examined,” Rep. Aaron Saunders of Belchertown said when asked his thoughts on the leadership structure. “The best that we can hope for is that there’s an alignment of policy that makes sense and is equitable for all involved. There’s likely a big conversation that needs to happen about whether we’re best served having one person chairing both entities.”
An EEA official said the Legislature established the secretary’s role with both bodies and that Tepper does not act independently on behalf of either body.
The MWRA is seeking commission approval of a proposal to withdraw and additional 20 million gallons of water per day from the Quabbin and Wachusett system. Saunders and Sens. Jake Oliveira, Jo Comerford and Peter Durant testified with Quabbin area residents at a hearing in Belchertown in September, urging the WRC to reject the MWRA proposal.
Residents and the delegation argue that the proposal violates a 1983 Interbasin Transfer Act requirement that there to be a distinct receiving community before a transfer is approved. The proposal would approve a large amount of transferable water before being matched with transfer locations. Opponents pointed to the Quabbin’s diminishing shoreline and repeatedly suggested that the proposal is another blow to ongoing inequity between western and eastern Massachusetts.
“As this process plays out over the next couple of months, it’s an opportunity to show that there’s independence of the Water Resources Commission and that the commission is set up not to be a rubber stamp,” Oliveira said when asked if he had concerns about any conflict of interest associated with EEA’s role on at the authority and the commission.
Advocacy group Friends of the Quabbin, whose clerk voiced concern about the MWRA’s water draw request at the September hearing, declined to comment on the matter and has not taken a formal vote of opposition to the plan.
“There are a lot of state agencies that roles and responsibilities are given to the secretary and then delegated to other members of their staff depending on the secretariat,” Oliveira added. “It does present some challenges chairing the MWRA board and then having the Water Resources Commission chaired by someone working for the secretary.”
The 12-member commission includes a heavy dose of members who serve in the secretariat Tepper leads, including the commissioners of the Departments of Conservation and Recreation, Environmental Protection, Agricultural Resources and Fish and Game — all of which have designees serving on their behalf. The secretary of housing has a seat and there are five members of the public on the commission who are appointed by the governor, and the Office of Coastal Zone Management sits as a non-voting member.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation recently extended the public comment period on the transfer request until 5 p.m. on Oct. 28.
“When it comes to this request without any clear signs of where that water is going or who needs it, in some ways that’s an easier conversation to have with Secretary Tepper to best understand why the MWRA finds it necessary and the WRC finds this to be the appropriate path,” Saunders said.
Saunders said pending legislation (H 1042, S 546) amends the structure of the MWRA, though “that bill doesn’t consider the Water Resources Commission. But I’d be willing to wager that it will when we file it next time around.”