The Town of Rochester took action in opposition to the requests of the Cities of New Bedford and Taunton for increased water withdrawals from Little Quitticas Pond, saying in a letter addressed to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection that the current permitted withdrawals are already excessive and must be reduced.
The letter, signed by all three selectmen and the Rochester Water Commission, states concerns over New Bedford’s and Taunton’s Water Management Act (WMA) permit renewal requests to increase the maximum millions of gallons per day allowance (MGD), with New Bedford seeking an increase from 20.79 MGD to 22.53 MGD. Combined, the two cities currently withdraw a total of 28.08 MGD, an amount the Town of Rochester says already exceeds the DEP’s own safe yield of 27.5 MGD for Little Quitticas.
As the host community to the New Bedford Water Works and filtration plant, Rochester is required to take certain actions for the benefit of New Bedford, says the letter, providing a bit of background into the increasingly contentious matter. These actions include zoning bylaw changes to accommodate the filtration plant as well as fire and police protection to the facility and surrounding 800 acres of land that New Bedford owns.
All of this service, says Rochester, comes at a cost to the town.
For example, New Bedford makes payments in lieu of taxes that are considerably lower than if the land were taxed at applicable rates. For fiscal year 2015, the city paid $26,763.17 instead of a tax liability of $283,600.55.
“There is little, if any, benefit to Rochester in having the New Bedford facility in town,” the letter sates. “In fact, when asked a few years ago about providing water to portions of Rochester for municipal services, New Bedford has stated that it would provide the water but only at the same rate it charges to any other purchaser.”
Rochester says language in the legislature specifically limits MGD withdrawal to the use of the city “resident,” but the subsequent DEP permit did not contain that limitation. As the letter states, this led to New Bedford and Taunton removing water and treating it as a for-profit business.
The combined 60 percent increase of the two cities, the letter asserts, comes at a time when the DEP has mandated that other communities be held to withdrawals based on stream flow, and that said withdrawal would be limited to the withdrawal levels of 2003 to 2005. New Bedford’s withdrawal during that time was only 12.94 MGD, yet it now asks for 22.53 MGD.
“New Bedford is making money selling water and wants to make even more money,” states the letter. “DEP should not be in the business of enabling the cities to withdraw in excess of the safe yield of the pond complex merely because cities want to generate revenue.”
Rochester believes that, not only are the withdrawal rates excessive and should be reduced, but a portion of the safe yield of Little Quitticas should be reserved for the potential use of surrounding communities.
“New Bedford and Taunton are permitted to withdraw … in excess of what any expert will tell you is a flawed safe yield that [the DEP has stated] ‘does not sufficiently protect water reliability or the environment,’” says the letter. “Now both of the cities have request {sic} significant increases in water withdrawal with no … explanation as to the need for the increase.”
Rochester Town Administrator Michael McCue said the Town of Rochester has recently received a response to the letter that was forwarded to state legislators in support of Rochester’s position. Selectmen are hopeful for a positive outcome.
“There appears to be a double standard in place here for what smaller communities are expected to live with and what larger cities are being granted as their right,” said Selectman Naida Parker.
The letter, said McCue, has “lit a fire” towards a positive outcome with the assistance of state legislators.
By Jean Perry
