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Water Supply Committee

Committees: Water Supply Committee

Water Supply Committee

2007 Annual Report

The Water Supply Committee (WSC) is charged with maintaining a Water Supply Policy for the Town of Hingham, and monitoring adherence to this policy in the Town of Hingham. The WSC is working with Aquarion Water Company (Aquarion), the public water supplier for the Hingham-Hull water district, on long-term planning to ensure that we have sufficient water to satisfy the Town’s current and future needs. The State’s determination that our water district is in a “stressed basin” places special requirements on the water supplier and a need for supportive action by the towns in the basin to encourage water conservation.

The State currently limits our water district (Hingham, Hull and a part of Cohasset) to the same level of consumption as averaged from 1981-1985, more than 20-years ago. This is called our “registered amount”. To obtain more water (called a “permitted amount”) the State requires public water suppliers in stressed basins to show that there is a need and that existing water supplies are being used efficiently. Aquarion has launched a major campaign to educate water users and landscapers on the need to conserve water, particularly when installing sprinkler or other irrigation systems. In support of that effort the WSC is proposing at the 2008 Town Meeting a bylaw establishing efficiency standards for automatic sprinkler systems in Hingham. The Committee is also recommending to the Selectmen that they encourage Hull to implement a similar conservation effort.
Aquarion is currently in discussion with State regulatory agencies both to renew the district’s registered amount and to seek approval for a small permitted amount to ensure we have enough water to meet peak demands during the summer. The process should be completed in 2008.

The process of obtaining a permit for additional water for our long-term needs is lengthy and could require another three years to complete. The State requires the water supplier to meet or show significant progress toward meeting specific targets (e.g. per capita water consumption below 65 gallons per day and unaccounted for water below 10%). Aquarion has met those targets.

The water supplier must also complete a study documenting long-term needs and supply options. These options include developing new water sources in Hingham but outside the Weir River basin, interconnecting with neighboring towns, purchasing water from the MWRA, and desalinization. Hull is conducting a separate study involving the possible construction of a desalinization plant. We are monitoring both of these studies and considering how the results might affect Hingham’s long-term planning.
In 1999, the State and Aquarion agreed through a consent order to institute a Water Balance Program, which requires that planned developments that significantly increase demand within our water district must offset their projected water needs with an equal amount of water savings. We anticipate that the State will condition renewal of the district’s registered amount or approval of an additional permitted amount on continuation of the water balance program.