Andover has long avoided the outdoor watering restrictions that hit other area towns during the dry summer months, thanks to drawing its water supply from Haggetts Pond and the Merrimack River.
But that will likely change if Article 30 passes at Annual Town Meeting beginning April 29. If passed, the article would change the town’s water use by-laws to comply with new state rules. If Town Meeting rejects Article 30, it will face hefty fines from the state.
The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection’s Water Management Act requires municipalities to have enforceable restrictions limiting non-essential outdoor water use during state-declared drought levels as a condition of obtaining permits to draw water.
Drought levels range from one, or mild, to four, or critical, with restrictions increasing as the drought level rises. Level four essentially bans all non-essential outdoor water use.
In the past, Andover has been able to determine its own drought level. To comply with the state rules, restrictions would have to be enforced whenever the state declares a water emergency for the northeast region, which includes all of Essex and Middlesex Counties.
The new restrictions would be enforced with non-criminal fines issued by police or other authorized town agents. Residents would likely receive a warning and then be fined if they continue with the unauthorized use.
“The goal for us is not to have a drought police going out there and seeing which residents are or we’re not watering,” DPW Director Carlos Jaquez told the select board when it discussed the article last month. “That is not the goal of what we’re trying to do here.”
This month, Andover News is previewing key warrant articles in the 2025 Annual Town Meeting, which begins April 29 and continues nightly until all of the articles have been deliberated.
More Town Meeting Coverage
Article 12: Closing The Special Ed Funding Gap
Article 21: Change requirements to call a special town meeting
Article 29: Create Central Street Historic
Article 30: Tighten Water Restrictions
Article 31: Repeal Ballardvale Historic District
Under the restrictions proposed in Article 30, restrictions at the different levels would be as follows:
- Non-essential water use would be restricted to one day per week and have to take place between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m.
- All nonessential water use banned, except for watering ornamentals and flower gardens with drip irrigation, hand-held hose, or watering cans.
- All nonessential water uses banned.
- All nonessential water uses banned.
The select board voted 3-2 to recommend Town Meeting pass Article 30.
“To me, this makes no sense,” said Kevin Coffey, who cast one of the dissenting votes. “The state regulators were lazy…They just drew a big old circle, cut it into quadrants and said everybody’s got to play ball the same way, which defies nature. It just doesn’t make sense.”