State proposes changes to water management rules

On Nov. 29, the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs released the Sustainable Water Management Initiative framework.

The framework proposes changes to Water Management Act permitting, such as a new methodology for calculating a river basin’s “safe yield,” new biological categorizations, and making water withdrawals based on new streamflow criteria.

The framework will be used to amend Water Management Act regulations, which will have an impact on cities and towns that have a Water Management Act permit.

The Sustainable Water Management Initiative was established in an attempt to develop a plan for water allocation in Massachusetts. Three years ago, Energy and Environmental Affairs convened a stakeholder committee to advise agencies on the development of the plan.

The framework attempts to create a more predictable permitting process by evaluating feasibility and cost, and by allowing for increased withdrawals if they are mitigated. But the MMA and water suppliers have expressed concerns that the framework places too much emphasis on how water withdrawals would affect fish populations, and not enough emphasis on cost-benefit analysis and the impact of impervious cover, dams, and nutrient pollutants on water quality.

The MMA is concerned that the costs of implementing the framework would constitute an unfunded mandate borne almost exclusively by ratepayers and taxpayers, and that cities and towns already lack adequate resources to maintain aging infrastructure. By limiting water withdrawal, the framework would reduce revenue and impose more costs on water suppliers through more stringent regulations.

The framework is complex, and it may be hard for some communities to determine how it will affect them.

The following issues deserve close attention:

• The concept of new or additional withdrawals being determined over a baseline (use from 2003-2005, 2005, or registered volume) not just authorized volume

• Minimization of the existing impact in biological or flow-impaired subbasins and mitigation of any increased withdrawal over the baseline in those impaired areas

• New low-flow triggers for non-essential outdoor water use restrictions

The Department of Environmental Protection is working with four communities to pilot components of the framework, and the department will be drafting regulations to amend the Water Management Act in early 2013.

There will be a public comment period once amendments to Water Management Act regulations have been drafted. The state will also develop a guide or handbook.

For more information, visit www.mass.gov/eea/swm.