A wet week is not enough to dampen water worries in many local towns.
“A little dry, not a big snow pack this year,” says Fred Laskey, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
He and his team are closely tracking rain, which flows into the Quabbin Reservoir-- the source of water for 2 million people around Boston.
“We’re running below average this year. It’s nothing drastic at this point, we’re still running at 93% capacity,” he adds.
Towns fed by the MWRA’s vast Quabbin supply are still in fine shape.
“If it was to stop raining right now, it’d be about 5 years before that reservoir went dry,” he says while showing off path water takes from Central Massachusetts into Greater Boston.
For other communities off that system, from Worcester to Wareham, mandatory water restrictions are quickly mounting.
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“They’re very cautious and nervous that they’re getting off to a slow start,” Laskey said.
In Needham signs warn residents of water limits now in effect.
“In the warmer months we will provide them with water to augment their supply,” Laskey says.
In nearby Sudbury, wells near the Concord River supply most of the town.
“The state basically tells us when we can pump water, and how much we can pump,” says Rebecca McEnroe, Superintendent of the Sudbury Water District.
When the river drops below a certain level for three days, restrictions must begin.
“If the rain continues for a couple of weeks, it may not happen until June, but it’s probably likely it will happen sometime in May,” she predicts.
