The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority is seeking permission to transfer an additional 20 million gallons of water daily from the Quabbin and Wachusett system, even though it has not yet identified which communities would receive it.
Here’s what to know
The Oct. 21 request to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority came from state Reps. Aaron Saunders of Belchertown and Susannah Whipps of Athol, and state Sens. Jo Comerford of Northampton and Jake Oliveira of Ludlow, according to the Greenfield Recorder.
Under the MWRA proposal, authorization to transfer water would precede any decision about its destinations. Critics see that sequence as a problem: They interpret the 1983 Interbasin Transfer Act as requiring an identified recipient community before approval.
The lawmakers also questioned why the agency was seeking that amount. According to their letter, the MWRA analyzed whether its system could accommodate the increase without establishing why the additional water was needed…