Rockport declares a water emergency so it can pull about 3 feet of water from Steel Derrick Quarry

Rockport's water supply is low enough that the town has declared a water emergency, a step the state requires before the town can take water from a quarry it does not own.

The DPW Commissioners, the three member elected board over the Department of Public Works, voted 3 to 0, from the meeting video, at a short meeting on Zoom on Monday morning, Oct. 26. The declaration covers Carlson's Quarry and Flat Ledge Quarry, the two quarries that hold part of the town's drinking water.

What happened

• The board declared a water emergency for Carlson's and Flat Ledge Quarries, effective right away. The vote was 3 to 0, from the meeting video.
• The Pigeon Cove Quarry Association has offered about 3 feet of water from Steel Derrick Quarry. The Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) said the town may take it, but only after declaring an emergency.
• Carlson's Quarry is about 4 to 4.5 feet lower than it was at this time last year, DPW Director Aaron Cilluffo said. Each foot there holds about 1.6 million gallons.
• Flat Ledge Quarry, which the town pumps into Carlson's, has about two or three weeks of pumping left before it runs too low, the town's water plant supervisor said.
• Nothing changes for residents yet. The total ban on outdoor water use that began Sept. 18 stays in place.

Why the town needed the word "emergency"

Cilluffo told the board the item was mostly procedural. The town has been in some level of drought for about three years, he said, and Carlson's Quarry is lower than it was last year.

"This is not to raise red flags," he said. "It's more of a proactive gesture so that we can hopefully be in a better place for next spring."

David Frithsen, the town's water filtration plant supervisor, had been talking with the DEP about taking water from Steel Derrick, the quarry in Pigeon Cove. The state's answer was yes, Cilluffo said, but the town must first declare an emergency. So the staff asked the board to declare one for the Carlson's Quarry watershed, which includes Flat Ledge.

Erin Battistelli, who ran the meeting, said she and the town administrator had talked about sending residents a notice. The word emergency is the state's required term, she said, and the town wants people to know what the board did and why.

How much water, and where it comes from

The association is willing to provide about 3 feet of water from Steel Derrick Quarry. Cilluffo said every foot at that part of Carlson's Quarry is about 1.6 million gallons, and the town expects about the same amount per foot out of the Derrick, so Carlson's should gain about 3 feet. He called it "not a perfect science," because neither quarry is a regular shape.

Three feet at 1.6 million gallons a foot is about 4.8 million gallons. At the 0.68 million gallons a day the town uses in its storage estimate, that is about seven days of water use. Carlson's Quarry holds 85 million gallons when full. For the week of Oct. 18 to 24 it held 47.9 million gallons, or 56.3 percent, the town's weekly table shows.

Some Steel Derrick water reaches the town most years, Frithsen said. A gate valve near the quarry's beach area lets about 2 feet of water run down through the watershed into Carlson's. This year Steel Derrick never filled up, so that water never came. The siphon the town plans to use now was last used in 1996, he said, when the town took almost 26 feet of water out of Steel Derrick, according to newspaper accounts from the time.

Flat Ledge is low too

Frithsen said he felt "a little bit uncomfortable" with this year's levels. The pumps that move water from Flat Ledge into Carlson's ran only three days a week from mid July to the beginning of October, because Flat Ledge started the season about 17 feet below its top mark. In other years it starts about 10 feet down, or full.

The quarry is now about 29 feet down. Last year the pumps shut off at the beginning of October with the water about 32 feet down. This year the town has pumped less, and Frithsen expects only two or three weeks of pumping left before there is not enough water to pump.

"I just feel like we need to catch up somehow," he said. The 3 feet from Steel Derrick "will certainly help."

Commissioners Bruce Reed and Ruth George both said it was a good idea to act now while the water is available. Battistelli asked when the town last took Steel Derrick water, which drew Frithsen's answer about 1996. No member of the public asked to speak.

By the numbers

Rockport's weekly reservoir table, read Oct. 26, 2026. Figures are percent of each reservoir's full capacity (Cape Pond 110 million gallons, Carlson's Quarry 85 million gallons). Flat Ledge Quarry is not in the table because the town pumps it into Carlson's.

The total system was down about 1.6 million gallons from the week before, and about 16.9 million gallons below the same week last year.

What was decided

• Water emergency declaration for Carlson's and Flat Ledge Quarries, based on drought conditions over the last two years and lower water levels than expected, effective immediately, with the DPW director authorized to take the steps needed to carry it out: 3 to 0 by roll call, from the meeting video.
• Adjourn, at about 10:11 a.m.: all in favor, from the meeting video.

What happens next

• The DPW will notify the state that the emergency has been declared. Cilluffo said the state contact did not expect a problem, since the town is taking only about 3 feet.
• The DPW plans to talk with the town's Conservation Commission so everyone is aware before the water moves.
• Once the town has the go ahead from everyone, crews will set up the siphon at Steel Derrick and start moving water to Carlson's.
• The town said it will send out a notice explaining the declaration.
• The outdoor water ban stays in place. The town posts its reservoir levels every week on its water system page. Questions about the ban go to the DPW at [email protected] or 978-546-3525.

Where to find the records

• Agenda for the Oct. 26 meeting (one item: consider an emergency declaration for Carlson's and Flat Ledge Quarries water levels).
• Recorded Zoom meetings, where the town posts the recording. Minutes will be posted in the town's document portal.
• Drought status page, with the outdoor water ban in effect since Sept. 18.
• Department of Public Works, with the commissioners and staff.

Earlier coverage: The drought eased. Why did Rockport ban outdoor watering? (Oct. 4), on how the quarries work and what would end the ban; Rockport's water is 9 points below last year (Oct. 9), on the Ad Hoc Water Committee's Oct. 7 meeting; and Rockport's reservoirs hold at 58% for a third week (Oct. 13), on the weekly table.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online on the town's recording. Votes are as heard on the recording and are labeled from the meeting video until the board's minutes confirm them. These are our meeting notes, not the board's minutes.