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Know Before It's Decided

Rockport's water is 9 points below last year. The town's water committee wants more people to know how to save it

At its Oct. 7 meeting, the Ad Hoc Water Committee went over the latest reservoir levels, the shut off faucets at Granite Pier, a free leak test few people know about and the questions it wants the town to answer.

Panorama of Flat Ledge Quarry ringed by granite ledges and trees, with a floating pump intake on the water
An old granite quarry in Rockport in July 2016. The town stores part of its drinking water in old quarries. File photo: Pi.1415926535 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Rockport

Cape Ann Current Staff · Friday, October 9How we work

Rockport's water supply is 9 percentage points lower than it was this time last year. At its meeting Wednesday, the town's Ad Hoc Water Committee spent most of an hour on a hard question: how to reach people who never look at the town website.

The four members met on Zoom on Oct. 7. No residents joined. The committee advises the town and has no budget of its own.

Where the water stands

How full are Rockport's reservoirs?

Week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, 2026, compared with the same week a year earlier.

All reservoirs
58.2%
A year ago: 67.3%
Cape Pond
59.8%
A year ago: 63.2%
Carlson's Quarry
56.1%
A year ago: 72.5%
This yearSame week last year
About 167 daysof water left at today's use, about 680,000 gallons a day, the town estimates
About 193 daysthe same week a year ago
About this comparison
Date
Week of Sept. 27 to Oct. 3, 2026, and the same week in 2025. Read Oct. 7.
Source
Rockport DPW weekly reservoir table. The town replaces the table each week, so the Current keeps its own copy.
Unit
Percent of each reservoir's full capacity. Days of supply are the town's estimate at the current daily use.
Why this comparison
The town's own table compares each week with the same week a year earlier.
Missing
The town does not post water levels in feet or how much of each reservoir is usable. Our water ban explainer has more on that.

What "9% lower" means

Member Diane Cartwright read the latest numbers from the town website and said the supply is about 9% lower than a year ago. Members then debated what that means: 9 points lower, or 9% less water?

We checked the town's table. The total is down 9 percentage points, from 67.3% to 58.2%. That is about 13% less water than a year ago.

9 pointsDown from 67.3% of full to 58.2% of full.
About 13% less water58.2 is about 87% of 67.3. That is how much less is actually in the reservoirs.

Chair Tom Mikus said the difference matters more as the reservoirs get lower. Cartwright said the town's tables, which also list gallons, are clear.

Members agreed that state and federal drought maps do not track Rockport's reservoirs. The U.S. Drought Monitor lists Rockport as only "abnormally dry," the mildest level. A member who checked the sign at the transfer station that day said the town is one stage below its emergency stage. Rockport still bans all outdoor water use. Here is why the town banned outdoor watering while the state's drought rating improved.

Members said rain from the late September storm varied a lot across town, from about 2 inches to less than an inch on the north side. Florence DiTirro said Flat Ledge Quarry is still very low.

Granite Pier

Faucets offSince about Sept. 19, members said

Granite Pier has two faucets, posted for flushing outboard motors for three minutes at a time. DiTirro said Greg Morrell of the Granite Pier Committee told her in August that the pier relies on the honor system and that shutting the water off in a drought is up to the DPW. A pier worker later told her the water had been turned off, around the time the town banned outdoor watering. She said it was still off the morning of the meeting.

A free leak test that few people know about

DiTirro told members she found a quiet leak in a toilet at her house that she could only hear now and then. A dye test showed it. She said many people could have leaks they cannot hear.

On Sept. 24 she asked the Department of Public Works about handing out dye tablets, which cost 12 to 21 cents each, at the library and the community center. The DPW wrote back that it already gives out dye strips at its office, and that food coloring works too. It said it would not pay for a second pickup spot but would not object if the committee did.

Mikus was asked how many people know the strips are free at the DPW. "Three," he joked. Members agreed the answer is very few.

Check your toilet in 10 minutes

  • 1Add colorPut a few drops of food coloring, or a dye strip, in the tank. That is the back part, not the bowl.
  • 2Wait 10 minutesDo not flush.
Thousands of gallons a yearThat is how much water a worn toilet flapper can leak without making a sound, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
  • 3Look in the bowlIf color shows up in the bowl, the toilet is leaking. A worn rubber flapper in the tank is a common cause.
  • 4FlushFlush right after the test so the color does not stain.

Free dye strips: ask at the Rockport DPW office. Steps: U.S. EPA WaterSense.

Free ways to save water at home

Check off what you already do

None of these cost money. Tap each one you do, or plan to start.

0 of 10
Inside
Outside
Spread the word

Sources: Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, drought tips; U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Water Conservation Matters; U.S. EPA WaterSense. Rockport rule: town drought page.

Members asked whether a short note could go on water bills, since the DPW earlier said an extra page in the mailing costs too much.

Questions the committee wants answered

Are the deep wells still pumping?
Members had heard the wells near Cape Pond were pumping five to seven hours a day. Laura Kozachek asked whether the town tests the wells as it draws on them.
Ask: DPW commissioners
Is Rockport applying for state water grants?
Kozachek named two state environmental grants for water quality, one she said is due Oct. 28, and asked whether anyone is applying for Rockport.
Ask: DPW
Did Rockport join the PFAS settlement?
Many Massachusetts communities joined a national settlement over PFAS, so called forever chemicals. Kozachek said she has never heard whether Rockport did.
Ask: Select Board
Who is planning for the next drought?
Members called this the second dry year in a row. Mikus said the Planning Board is not working on it. He said Rockport's last full town plan "goes way back," and Kozachek recalled a 1968 or 1969 plan still on the town website around 2016.
Ask: DPW

Kozachek also reported on a September meeting of TownGreen, a Cape Ann climate nonprofit. She said some communities pay for yearly aerial photos to track roofs, roads and other hard surfaces where rain cannot soak into the ground. At that meeting members heard that costs too much for Rockport. Some towns may share the cost. Mikus said he will ask TownGreen whether it has looked at water across Cape Ann.

A one page guide to Rockport's water

The committee has talked for months about a one page guide for residents. Members talked about a simple map of Cape Pond, Carlson's Quarry, Flat Ledge Quarry and the wells, water saving tips and a QR code.

DiTirro said many older residents do not use QR codes or websites, and the guide needs to go where people already go. Cartwright suggested asking residents first what they want to know. The committee agreed to do that before writing anything.

What do you want to know about Rockport's water?

Committee members are asking neighbors and friends what questions they have about the town's water and where they look for answers. Send yours to the Cape Ann Current at [email protected]. We will look for answers.

The committee is looking for new members

The Ad Hoc Water Committee has open seats. Rockport residents who want to help plan for the town's water can find the committee's page and contact information on the town website.

Before the next meeting

WhoWill do
Every memberSend the chair two ideas for the one page guide, and ask neighbors and friends what they want to know about the town's water and where they look for it.
Tom MikusAsk TownGreen about water planning across Cape Ann. Ask town staff about aerial photos of hard surfaces.
Laura KozachekAsk Salem Sound Coastwatch about water programs and funding for Rockport, and keep planning a public event on water quality.
The committeeAsk the DPW commissioners about the deep wells, state grants and long range water planning.

Members send ideas only to the chair, not to each other, so the committee follows the state open meeting law.

Next meetingMonday, Nov. 16, 3 p.m., on ZoomAdd to Google Calendar
Ban still onNo outdoor water use of any kind in Rockport. Town drought page

How we did this

Cape Ann Current watched the town's Zoom recording of the meeting, checked every name against the posted agenda and town records, and checked every reservoir figure against the DPW's weekly table. The committee's minutes have not been posted yet. This story was produced with the help of AI tools and checked against the documents listed below. If you see an error, tell us at [email protected].

Earlier coverage: The drought eased. Why did Rockport ban outdoor watering? (Oct. 4), the full explainer with reservoir history; Meetings today and Thursday (Oct. 7), the meeting preview; Rockport Select Board preview (Oct. 5); Cape Ann water rules (Sept. 30), town by town.

Sources

See something wrong? Email [email protected]. Read our standards and corrections policy.