Enlarge map

MetroFuture identifies water conservation as a key increment of supply to serve new growth in many communities. New residents would use 33% less than today’s average demand for existing residents; and new jobs would use 20% less than today’s average per-employee demand for comparable sectors. Existing homes and businesses would use 20% less than they currently do; and water systems would lose less than 10% of their water to unaccounted-for uses. These savings would be sufficient for all but 5 of the region’s municipalities to live within their existing regulatory limits.

MetroFuture’s land use plan would also help to preserve water supplies. New growth using Low Impact Development techniques would mimic existing hydrology and mitigate past alteration. The region will also be less reliant on private septic systems. Two-thirds of new housing units in Developing Suburbs would use shared systems or sewers (43,000 units, versus 21,000 (23%) if Current Trends continue.) This brings opportunities for local groundwater recharge and local water reuse systems.

Currently, 27 of the Inner Core communities and many of the Maturing Suburbs are served by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, which gets water from the Quabbin Reservoir; this system has adequate supply to meet projected demand from now into foreseeable future. Meanwhile, 22 communities in the region have no public water systems; in these towns residents and businesses provide their own water through private wells. The remainder of the communities in the region rely on local public water systems, which are regulated by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, which issues permits stating how much each system can withdraw. In three quarters of the MAPC region municipalities, peak month water demand is 25% higher than annual average demand; and 50% higher than average demand in 20% of municipalities.

If Current Trends continue, total water demand in the region would increase by 11%; and 52 cities and towns in Metro Boston would exceed their withdrawal limits. 40 of those municipalities would exceed by more than 100,000 gallons per day and five systems will exceed allowances by more than half a million gallons per day. Those communities that are exceeding
their allowances would have a collective deficit of 12 million gallons per day. 71,000 housing units would rely on private septic systems, with irregular schedules for maintenance and inspection

Objectives:

• Total demand for public water systems will decline by 12%.
• Per capita residential water consumption will decline by 20%.
• Average water demand for all new residential development will be no more than 50 gallons per person per day.
• In 100% of public water systems, peak month water demand will be no more than 125% of average annual demand.
• 100% of public water suppliers have unaccounted for water less than 10%.
• The volume of interbasin transfers (via water or wastewater) out of medium- or high-stress basins will steadily decline.