Water Down
Worcester has
experienced a shortfall of rain for four of five years ending in 2016. It looks
like the shortfall will continue into 201. Although this could be an anomaly,
it could also be a pattern. It might the start of a new normal where 38 inches
of rain per year is all we get.
As the City manager has
been made known to us by standing in the dry ground exposed by low water,
Worcester reservoirs are less than half filled after the five year shortfall. The
intakes for the reservoirs are now above the water level and cannot draw in
water.
The City has taken
some emergency measures such as buying water from Massachusetts Water Resource
Authority (MWRA) that runs the Quabbin and Wachusetts Reservoirs. It pays the
MWRA 1.7 million dollars per month for the water. The money comes City’s general
funds. This expenditure will be made for the foreseeable future.
This money is needed
elsewhere such as the public schools.
The City has also instituted
water use restrictions that have helped to mitigate the shortfall. However even
with the restrictions the level of water in the reservoirs have not risen above
50 percent.
First of all let me
say that water is a human right. We deserve clean drinking water for no other
reason than we are people. The people in Flint MI are the victims of human
rights violations. Denial of water should be used as weapon or a means of
genocide and ethnic cleansing.
Secondarily water is
an asset for a region. Like affordable energy water is vital for a prosperous
community. There have been examples of civilizations that cease to exist due to
the drought conditions brought on by climate change. The Akkadian Empire, Khmer
Empire, and the Puebloan Culture are historical examples.
Of course I am not saying that New England or
even Worcester is facing imminent demise. I am suggesting is some thought should
go into the possibility that 38 inches of rain a year is the new average for the
region.
The City council has
wasted its time and resources on nice, but less vital issues such as dog parks
and mounted patrols. There should a report from the City Manager on the short
and long effects of the drought on the City and how the City plans to respond
to it.
As we have seen the
reservoirs of the City will have to be redesigned. This is because a 38 inches
of rain will not keep them filled. Water use will have to be increasingly
recycled. Roof water and runoff should increasingly harvested.
The issue is actually
a state or regional and Federal issue. The redesign and improvements to
reservoirs is beyond the budgets of all cities and towns in Massachusetts. As
the Federal government has become involved in the improvement of infrastructure
like roads and bridges, it will likely have to become involved in the
infrastructure of dams and reservoirs of water short areas.
With the Trump
presidency water infrastructure improvement is unlikely to occur. This is especially
true as both the State voters and its Republican governor voted against the
President elect.
