Southborough approves selling water to Ashland
By Ken Powers Contributing Writer

Southborough - The town of Southborough will sell water to Ashland if Ashland's water needs reach a critical level.

Southborough Public Works Superintendent Karen Galligan said the water would be sent to the town for a 30-day period if the Hopkinton Reservoir, which serves Ashland's drinking water wells, drops lower than it is currently.

The Board of Selectmen approved the plan at its Oct. 2 meeting.

At that meeting, Mark Purple, Ashland's assistant town manager and finance director told the board that the town's wells were still refilling normally, but that with the current drought the town felt it needed a backup plan in case that changed.

Purple explained that, in an eff ort to keep its wells filling normally, Ashland instituted strict water use restrictions Aug. 7. Those restrictions included no outdoor watering, no washing of cars, no using of automatic sprinklers, no operating of decorative fountains and no filling or topping off of swimming pools.

Prior to the Aug. 7 ban Ashland had limited outdoor watering to three days a week.

Hopkinton, which draws water from the Hopkinton Reservoir as well, also has a water ban in eff ect.

Galligan said sending water to Ashland would require Southborough to place an emergency water ban on its residents as a safeguard that Southborough's water supply would not drop too low.

If a water ban was to be instituted in Southborough, fines of up to $100 could be issued to residents violating the water restrictions, according to town bylaws.

Galligan said the incentive for Southborough to enter into an emergency water sharing plan with Ashland was that the town will be able to charge Ashland a higher price for the water than what Southborough pays the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) for the water. The extra money would allow Southborough to pay for extra electricity needed to run water pumps.

Some Southborough residents, Galligan said, get their water from the pool the town gets from the MWRA, while other residents have private wells.

Galligan said town residents concerned that the arrangement with Ashland would leave Southborough vulnerable in case of a fire in town shouldn't be, because the water being sent to Ashland can be discontinued in the event of an emergency.

As for depleting the water supply in the event of a fire, Galligan said in the late summer and early fall every year the town has recovery issues because of summer usage water totals. She said the town would not be putting itself in a more dangerous situation.

Selectmen approved the water-sharing plan, but not before adding stipulations that would subject the agreement to review every 30 days, limiting it to peak hours and discontinuing the agreement immediately if an emergency arises in Southborough.