Fourth Of July Water Fight Back On After Water Donation To Nantucket

Just one day after canceling the annual Fourth of July water fight due to the ongoing drought conditions on Nantucket, the town announced Friday that it had been reinstated “thanks to a water donation.”

With Nantucket under a Level 2 "significant" drought status, Wannacomet Water Company director Mark Willett told the Select Board on Wednesday that "I just don’t think it’s a good look for [the] Wannacomet [water company] or the town to ask the residents and the businesses to restrict water and us go ahead and have a water fight on Main Street." The Select Board agreed, and the annual tradition that brings thousands of people to Main Street each year was canceled for the second year in a row.

But less than 24 hours later, a group of Nantucket businesses and the West Bridgewater, Mass.-based JP Noonan Transportation hatched a plan to truck water to Nantucket from the mainland.

“JP Noonan Transportation has donated 8,000 gallons of water to the Town of Nantucket for this purpose,” the town stated in its announcement. “The water will arrive on the island on (July 2), 2026, and will be stored by local contractors. On July 4th, the water will be transported to Main Street and used to supply two Fire Department fire tankers and the Ranney Family fire engine, which will also participate in the event.”

The water being trucked to Nantucket for the water fight will be sourced from a private water supplier in Bridgewater, Mass., according to a JP Noonan representative. The water is not coming from that town's public supply. Bridgewater is located in Plymouth County, which is under the same Level 2 drought status as Nantucket.

“All water used in this year's contest will be donated and transported from off-island, with no impact on the town's water supply,” the town added in its announcement.

During a discussion about the water fight during Wednesday night's Select Board meeting, board member Bob DeCosta initially attempted to push for a compromise, such as a single tanker of water provided for a slimmed-down version of the event that traditionally pits the Nantucket Fire Department against the Boynton Lane Reserves on Main Street.

“I’m not saying we need to drive three fire trucks down there and spray water everywhere,” he said. “Can’t we just fill up one of your portable tanks halfway full and let the kids fill their water guns and have fun on the 4th of July? Isn’t there some way that we can do this?”

The next day, DeCosta got his wish.

The town acknowledged the following individuals and organizations for making it happen:

• JP Noonan Transportation and the Noonan Family
• Toscana Corporation — Eric Rogers and Carl Jelleme
• Nantucket Energy — Phil Marks
• Holdgate Partners and Robert B. Our Co., Inc. — Michael Day

Precipitation levels on the island have remained historically low for several years in a row, prompting a number of water-use restrictions. Usually, Willett said, Nantucket receives around 40-42 inches of precipitation a year. The last three years, the island has seen 24, 27, and 20 inches.

“For three years in a row, we’ve been about half of what we usually get,” Willett said. “Last year, going back through all of Wannacomet’s rain historical records, I got all the way back into the early 80s and never saw anything close to 20 inches of rain in a year, which was last year. Last year, being that 20 [inches of] rain, from January to May, we had eight inches of rain.”

So far this year? Four inches.

“I don’t know if we’re going to get out of this any time soon,” Willett said. “We’re doing what we can do, and we’re asking businesses and customers to restrict outdoor water use."