Sunday, September 25, 2016

Water Woes Update

Drought map both colorful and scary
Atkins Reservoir on September 21,  the day it went off line 

The DPW gave a presentation to the Water Supply Protection Committee on Thursday morning with the same slides they use for the UMass, Hampshire and Amherst College officials weekly update and the news was mostly good.  Mostly.

 Wells have safety margin of 1.2 mgd, so as long as Well 3 or 4 does not go down ...

As long as you're not a pessimist and fear a major fire, water main break or pump failure at one of the major wells.


Water main break June 3rd
 Alpine Commons fire June 4th
Only broke the 3.5 mgd once

The main thing is water restrictions are working and by keeping consumption to under 3.5 million gallons per day the town can handle the load using only wells.  Which is a good thing since the only things we have at the moment and for at last another month to six weeks are the wells.

Atkins Reservoir closed with water levels down 9' 7" just shy of the record ten feet in 1982 but that year it closed a few weeks later so if not taken off line September 21 would probably exceed the 10 foot mark by October.

The main factor needed to disrupt the drought is rain.  Lots of it.



The Committee talked briefly about tapping into the Quabbin but town engineer Jason Skeels pointed out what a nightmare it would be to run pipes through the underground ledges in Pelham.  And the other option -- opening yet another well -- is also an expensive proposition.

And either of those options would take forever to implement.  The better course is to continue paying strict attention to water conservation, and pray for rain.

Quabbin Reservor 9/24 at 85% full

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have Amherst's favorite minority senator Lizzy "Stoneface" Warren do a rain dance...problem solved.

Anonymous said...


I believe with some effort, the students could do a better job of making Amherst a worst place to live for yuppie families, just like the yuppie families try to make Amherst a worst place for students to go to college.

You cannot beat the students, that is like beating your boss by running him out of business. You can poke them until they react though. If people want to pay for all their own crap and do it without the students, you can simply step up to do it, no new laws or movements needed.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the age of college should be raised to weed out the immature ones!

Anonymous said...

Yes, 6:43 -- do it and eliminate Amherst.

Ever notice how Umass Amherst has the lowest number of nontraditional(over age 23) undergrads in all of New England if not the nation?

Older students simply wouldn't put up with the bullshite. And the current "status quo" depends on it, much like the South depended on "Jim Crow."

And much like young Black men coming back from Korea asked difficult questions, you'll find that older, more mature students ask difficult questions about Amherst.

Anonymous said...

Sure, Ed, sure.

Rene said...

@ Anon 1:19,

If you don't like Senator Warren's politics, why not just say so and explain why? Snarky, racist, and sexist comments don't give you much credibility or convince anyone.

Anonymous said...

Did you say 'weed,' man?

Anonymous said...

I hate Lieawatha's politics, personality, as well as her granny clampett look. Other than that, her falsification of her ethnicity for personal gain. Nothing snarky. For the life of me I cannot understand what anyone sees in her.

Anonymous said...

We love stealth Eddie!

Anonymous said...

Anon 1007 is definitely a Republican. They specialize in denigrating people instead of discussing policy or ideas because they have no sane policies or ideas.

Anonymous said...

Snarky? Snide would be a better word. Racist? Warren fabricated a reality and acted as if she was a Native American so she could get ahead when in fact she has no Indian heritage in her. She used the system to her advantage but nowhere in the comment is there any racism. In fact, she is quite pale in the face to use a term based on her light skin shade when compared to a person who is actually of Native American heritage. Sexist? I fail to see where the comment suggests gender discrimination - different than the ethnic discrimination Harvard Law School could have faced if it refused to hire her because she falsely portrayed herself an American Indian. Funny how liberals like to pull out the sexist card any chance they get. If someone makes note of the fact that a man had a strange cough for 4.5 minutes, then one would conclude that the man might be very sick or have an underlying health issue. If a woman coughs for 4.5 minutes it must be sexism.

Anonymous said...

Red Sox magic number is 2 -- wonder what the playoffs will be like.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps it is time to mandate showers only every 2-3 days for people? In talking around, there are many that shower every day, many in the AM (for no reason).

Better than running out or not being able to fight a fire...or having to ask the students to leave, which would be an economic disaster.

Rene said...

@2:35 AM

OK, snide is probably better, but using "do a rain dance" has racist connotation particularly since it's used to denigrate Senator Warren. Sexist, well yes, because "Lizzie" is a diminutive of Elizabeth and generally used an a nickname for young girls, not to mention "Stoneface" which is intended as a putdown of her appearance. More importantly, the fact is that neither you nor Anon 1:19 offer any substantive comment on Senator Warren's policies or actions, just personal attacks.

Anonymous said...

The woman is a politician who will sell her soul (wait she just did that stumping for Hillary), so who cares. She is stoneface and looks like she came out of a Grannie May photo. Get over it. The world isn't about your fantasy of flowers and everyone being so wonderful and equal. Never was and never will be. Even the local liberals have her number these days. http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/06/northampton_graffiti_calls_sen.html

But let's look at facts. She's a corporate shill just like Clinton.


Times are changing. Get ready for November.

Anonymous said...

We're in for 4 to 8 years of this crap if Hillary gets in. Just as during the Obama years all we heard was accusations of racism, the next term if that execrable Clinton woman gets in will be filled with cries of sexist!

Anonymous said...

Hillary and Bill. Does Anyone think they belong back in the White House? Maybe if she would only disavow Robert Byrd, Al Sharpton and that perjuring rapist Bill Clinton.