SHUTESBURY — Shutesbury officials are adding their voice of opposition to a request from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority to withdraw an additional 20 million gallons of water per day from the Quabbin Reservoir.
In a 3-0 vote at its Oct. 27 meeting, the Select Board approved sending a letter to the Massachusetts Water Resources Commission, which has to act on the request.
Town Administrator Hayley Bolton, who drafted the letter, said a main concern is the request violates the 1983 Interbasin Transfer Act because it doesn’t identify any communities that would receive the water, there is uncertainty about whether the MWRA has looked into other options and there has been no assessment of the need.
Bolton characterized the request as essentially being about “give us the water now and we’ll tell you where it’s going later.”
“The MWRA is effectively asking for a blank check authorization based on generalized future needs rather than demonstrated actual demand,” the letter reads.
The letter also notes how towns like Shutesbury are stewarding the protection of the water and bears the permanent burdens of this work, while MWRA continues to minimize the role of these communities, refuses fair compensation and bypasses genuine negotiation.
The communication was sent by the Oct. 28 deadline to comment, with Shutesbury joining other towns, like Leverett’s Select Board, and several legislators, in making their concerns known.
Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Belchertown, Rep. Susannah Whipps, I-Athol, and Sen. Jake Oliveira, D-Ludlow, have written a letter asking MWRA to withdraw its application, calling the proposal inconsistent with the Interbasin Transfer Act.
“MWRA should simply withdraw this application now, and finally grapple honestly with its obligation to the communities that steward the water on which so many depend,” the lawmakers wrote to MWRA Interim Executive Director Stephen Estes-Smargiassi, incoming executive director Jonathan Gulliver, and the MWRA Board of Directors.
