MetroFuture recommends encouraging relatively more population and employment growth within the MWRA service area than might occur if Current Trends continue.  It also recommends continued improvements in water conservation (MWRA water demand has declined over recent decades, even as population has increased), so that estimated 2030 MWRA water demand is lower than would occur if Current Trends continue.  

Many of the region’s Maturing Suburbs outside of the MWRA service area would also see higher population growth; with increases in water conservation efforts, these municipalities might be able to accommodate the additional growth within the constraints of their existing Water Management Act permits.  However, the physical availability of water, the cost of infrastructure upgrades, or the environmental impact of water withdrawals may cause more municipalities, including some Developing Suburbs, to seek new connections to the MWRA.  

Under the right set of criteria, some targeted and judicious expansion of the MWRA could provide benefits to communities, the region, and the Commonwealth as a whole.  If, on the other hand, expansion of the system is allowed to go forward indiscriminately to support development inconsistent with regional and local plans, MetroFuture’s efforts to promote smart growth and minimize sprawl could be undermined.

MAPC recommends that any expansion of the MWRA water system occur under strict conditions that address land use, water conservation, and environmental concerns.  Municipalities seeking to connect to the system should commit to take measures that will reduce water demand and preserve the capacity of the expanded infrastructure.  Such commitments might include:

• land use plans and zoning consistent with the regional plan;
• establishment of service area boundaries and connection moratoria outside of designated growth areas;
• implementation of low impact development and water reuse as a condition for local permits;
• application of state of the art pricing, billing, regulatory, and educational mechanisms to conserve water and manage peak demand; and
• efforts to maximize recharge of existing aquifers. 

With such conditions in place, there might be circumstances in which expansion of the system might provide significant benefits, by reducing the demand on overtaxed local water resources while minimizing impacts on MWRA source watersheds.  In these circumstances, where critical environmental need is combined with strong municipal commitment to conservation and smart growth, the expansion of the system might be facilitated by subsidizing the “cost of entry” to the system.  

One possible approach to evaluating these issues would be to establish a Special Procedure, which under the MEPA regulations would allow for a broad review of potential system expansion issues, and a streamlined review of individual communities that come in meeting pre-defined criteria.  These criteria would assess the likelihood that introducing MWRA water would trigger unsustainable development in the given applicant municipality. 

20.a    MAPC should work with the MWRA, EOEEA, and other stakeholder groups to revise MWRA expansion policies

Add Comment