Manchester lifts its outdoor watering ban as drought eases to Level 1
The Select Board voted Sept. 21 to end the town's outdoor water restrictions after the state downgraded the region to a mild drought.
Manchester-by-the-Sea residents can water their lawns and gardens without time limits again.
The Select Board voted Sept. 21 to lift the town's outdoor water ban. Town Administrator Tony Barletta told the board the state had downgraded the northeast region, which includes Manchester, to a Level 1 mild drought as of Sept. 10.
At Level 1, the state does not call for a ban or restriction on outdoor watering, Barletta said. There is "no need for a ban or a restriction on water use," he told the board.
No separate start date was announced at the meeting.
What changes
Until the vote, the town was under Level 2 rules that the board adopted Sept. 8. Those rules allowed sprinklers and irrigation systems any day of the week, but only from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. Hand watering, car washing, boat washing and filling pools were already allowed at any time.
The Sept. 21 vote removes the sprinkler time window as well.
Earlier in the summer, under the state's Level 3 critical drought, the town had limited sprinklers to three days a week and to evening and early morning hours.
What the state still recommends
For communities at Level 1, the state recommends a year round water conservation program with public education, timely drought information for residents and businesses, checks of emergency water connections, and a local drought management plan, Barletta said.
The town is working on that local plan, and it is on the board's action list. At the Sept. 8 meeting, board members said they wanted a standing set of rules for each drought level so they would not have to debate each change case by case.
How the summer went
Manchester's water system was under strain this summer. The town put a ban in place early in the summer while the Lincoln Street well was out of service, and the town leaned on Gravelly Pond, according to board minutes. The well came back online in July.
In July, DPW Director Chuck Dam told the board the ban had cut daily demand from roughly 900,000 to more than 1 million gallons a day down to 500,000 to 600,000 gallons, according to the July 20 minutes. The town kept the ban in place then to let Gravelly Pond, the town's reservoir, recover.
Board Chair John Round called the change from Level 2 to Level 1 a move "in the right direction."
Sources
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