'Flush with water': Weymouth explores joining state water authority for more capacity

WEYMOUTH  – From projecting the impact on water rates to the cost of building the infrastructure, Mayor Robert Hedlund said his administration is still studying whether the town should join the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

Hedlund and members of his administration went before the town council’s public works committee this week to answer dozens of questions about the town’s water supply and town officials' plans to address the need for more capacity. Weymouth recently told a developer looking to build a 99-room motel that the town would not supply water to the development.

David Tower, business manager of the department of public works, said the town uses on average about 4.5 million gallons of day, though that number fluctuates and is at times higher. It is permitted by the state to use up to 5 million per day on average.

Tower said about 22% of the town’s water use is unaccounted for, meaning it is lost through things like water main breaks.

He said the town could spend “millions and millions” on infrastructure work, but has been doing as much as possible, including using a leak detection system and  improving mains with frequent breaks.

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The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority has long been floated as a potential source  of water to the redevelopment of the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station, now known as Union Point. The MWRA provides water from the Quabbin and Wachusett reservoirs to dozens of communities, including Quincy.

The MWRA last month voted to temporarily waive the fee new communities pay to join the system, citing challenges  including stressed river basins requiring water restrictions, rising concerns about PFAS chemicals and the limits that low water supply places on burgeoning development.

Hedlund said the town is evaluating whether Weymouth should join the MWRA to provide water to the entire town, not just Union Point.

"The more information we gleaned, we decided to expand to look at the whole town. (Water) is a dwindling resource for the region," Hedlund said, adding that the MWRA is "flush" with water.

"It's the highest quality in the United States and it's in good shape, so the issue we're trying to vet is what it would mean for ratepayers if we went in that direction," he said.

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Tower said the average annual water bill in Weymouth is $840, compared to the average in the region of $947.

Hedlund said the town could rely on agreements with developers, such as the master developer of Union Point, state and federal funding and debt service as ways to pay to join the MWRA.

The town got state money to study potential routes for  connecting to the  MWRA system and to look at other factors, and chief of staff Ted Langill has been in talks with the agency.

Planning Director Robert Luongo said the town will evaluate all potential routes to get the water to Weymouth. The town would then identify a preferred route through the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act permitting process.

Hedlund said the town's water treatment plant would serve as a pump station and Great Pond would become a backup water supply.

"If this wasn't something positive for the town potentially, I would not be wasting my time and the chief of staff's time to do this," Hedlund said.

Weymouth Conservation Administrator Mary Ellen Schloss said joining the MWRA would allow the town to use  its current water supplies as  environmental and recreational resources. Herring could return to Great Pond, and the town could allow swimming and boating at both Whitman's Pond and Great Pond.

"Not taking water from Whitman's Pond would be amazing, and the herring run could be restored to Great Pond if it wasn't a water supply," she said. "It could be a tremendous thing for Weymouth."

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Mayor Hedlund says MWRA could be best solution for more water capacity