Amid Drought Designation, Water Department To Assess Compliance With Water Use Restrictions

With Nantucket's Fourth of July water fight canceled and the town advising island residents to follow mandatory outdoor water use restrictions amid the state-imposed drought classification, are property owners following the rules? And is the town enforcing them?

The restrictions on outdoor water use were implemented on June 20th, the first official day of summer, following the Massachusetts Drought Management Task Force's declaration of a Level 1 drought on the island. But as many Nantucket residents have pointed out in the ensuing weeks, many lawns are still quite green, and irrigation seems to be continuing in violation of the restrictions in some cases. 

"I was driving around at 5:30 in the morning all week, and there's a lot of it happening - people who shouldn't be watering are doing it," Wannacomet Water Department director Mark Willett told the Current late last week. "I've talked to a lot of the irrigation guys, and they're doing their best. It's hard to get to every client they have. We just want to remind people it's not just the right thing to do, it's mandatory." 

Beyond those reminders, Willett said his department will soon begin using meter readings to identify violations, and the Nantucket Water Commission will be determining a fine structure to impose if necessary.

"We're going to start using the meter readings to see when irrigation is happening, and we can calculate those flows and determine who is watering when," Willett said. "At our commission meeting (this) week, we'll determine a fine structure. It's been a couple weeks, and the irrigation guys are responsive and working with us and working as fast as they can to get the systems on the drought management schedule. We don't want to get to the point where we have to fine people, so we're sending out phone calls and emails asking people to comply." 

As it stands today, the town's lawn irrigation rules amid the Level 1 drought restrict all automatic lawn irrigation systems to two days per week, between 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. Exceptions include gardens and landscape beds using drip irrigation. Hand-held hoses and watering cans are allowed.

The town's schedule for automatic lawn irrigation systems is as follows:

• Odd-numbered street addresses: Watering permitted Mondays and Wednesdays, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• Even-numbered street addresses: watering permitted Tuesdays and Thursdays, 5:00 p.m. – 9:00 a.m.
• No lawn irrigation is allowed on Fridays, Saturdays, or Sundays.

The restrictions apply only to municipal water users. Private wells are exempt from these restrictions.

In addition to many private residences, the island's golf courses and its largest farms are all on private wells, so they are not subject to the restrictions.

The state task force makes the drought declaration unilaterally by monitoring the groundwater level at a well located off Russell's Way. It has equipment that radios information about the groundwater table and elevation to the state task force. When it drops below 25 feet for more than 60 days, it triggers a level 1 drought classification, Willett said.

"If we don't get any rain, we might be in it for an extended period of time," Willett said back in June. "But they will be monitoring it daily."

The state monitors the groundwater level of the upper aquifer, and although the Wannacomet Water Company pumps most of its water from a lower level of the aquifer, the island's water withdrawal permit doesn't differentiate between the two, and the restrictions are automatic.

The drought classification can be lifted when the groundwater level at the well monitored by the state rises above the 25-foot threshold for 30 consecutive days.