Above The Water Management Act Advisory Committee meeting was attended by several watershed advocates.
On Thursday, January 21st the Water Management Act Advisory Committee met for the first time in 6 years. At the meeting, the State Department of Environmental Protection announced a new plan to condition registrations during droughts. Current registered withdrawals are exempt from any water conservation conditions. Even during severe droughts. Registered withdrawals are the amount of water withdrawals in existence at the time of the passage of the Water Management Act. As 80% of withdrawals from the Ipswich River are registered, this is potentially a policy game-changer for the Ipswich River.
Supporters of a clean, healthy Ipswich River have been working towards this transformational day for a long time. With late news of more than 50 opponents planning to attend the meeting to express concern over the initiative, we mobilized our supporters at the last minute to tell the State how important this issue was for our River. No problem! Of the 65 meeting attendees, 40 were healthy watershed allies including many Ipswich River members.
Executive Director Wayne Castonguay says, “ We applaud the DEP for taking this important and long overdue step. Ipswich River communities felt the 2016 and 2020 droughts firsthand. Our River, because of the registration issue, saw virtually no relief at all. I want to emphasize the importance of this and thank all of our members who came out at the last minute to support us at the meeting.”
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