We are happy to report that on December 22, 2023 the Massachusetts Superior Court upheld the new water rules and affirmed DEP’s authority to condition water registrations for the first time.
In January of last year, following three decades of advocacy for the Ipswich River, The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued new water rules to condition water registrations for the first time. Registrations are water withdrawals that existed at the time the Water Management Act (WMA) was passed in 1986. Before these rules were issued they were exempt from any water conservation conditions at all, even during severe droughts.
Registrations make up more than 80% of all water withdrawn from the Ipswich River and eliminating this exemption has long been our #1 advocacy priority. Getting conditions on registrations was also a key component of our 9-step #EndangeredIpswich Campaign which so many of you helped with. Unfortunately several registrants from around the State, including several in the Ipswich watershed, appealed the new regulations to court. We couldn’t be more pleased that the Massachusetts Superior Court upheld the new rules and affirmed DEP’s authority to condition this important class of water withdrawals.
Although it is our position that the new rules do not go far enough to protect our river and ensure long-term water resiliency, they are a start and something we can build off of. “The court agrees with what we’ve been saying for years: that sustainable water management requires that water conservation requirements should apply to all water use, not just some,” says Executive Director Wayne Castonguay, “This is a big victory not only for the Ipswich River but for all rivers and streams across Massachusetts. I congratulate our many members and supporters who wrote letters and made phone calls to advocate for this important change to our outdated water rules.”
Read more about it on MassLive and Mass Layers Weekly.