Atkins Reservoir Friday, January 27: 100% capacity
Atkins Reservoir, which went back online a couple weeks ago, is currently at full 200 million gallon capacity.
A far cry from early this fall when it was down by two-thirds and had to be shut down early.
Atkins Reservoir October 7th, 2016: 34% of capacity
Amherst managed to survive an extended period using only the wells and the return of somewhat normal New England weather has now replenished our surface water supplies in Pelham and Atkins which is located in Shutesbury.
The town lifted the water ban that went into effect on August 19th back on December 19th and the consumption levels since then have remained below 3 million gallons per day.
Amherst is permitted by the DEP to draw 4.44 million gallons per day so in our current system there's still plenty of capacity left for new growth as long as Mother Nature does not throw a hot hissy fit.
NIMBYs have embraced the recent water woes as another weapon in their anti-development war using it to attack the proposed Beacon Communities 130 unit development at the Mill District in North Amherst.
Not the first time the usual knee jerk anti-development arguments have been all wet.
19 comments:
That's rich. The biggest water alarmist was you!
As Joe Friday might have said: "Just the facts Ma'am.
To be fair he was alarmed at the lack of precip, which has now recharged the system and he reported it.
I think Larry played it straight on this topic. We had a water emergency. More Joe Friday, please.
Rich Morse
Does this mean they won't raise the water rates?
Ummm, NO 9:01 -- the aquifer (i.e. wells) will take at least a year to recharge, and that's with the ground not frozen, which I believe it is right now. Liquid water isn't going to soak through a layer of ice, it's why flooding is such an issue in the spring, and much of this water will run off rather than soak in.
That said, isn't it a pity that the Atkins wasn't drained and cleaned out back in September? It'd be full now -- with nicer water.
Amherst is populated by mainly Boston students-time to tap Bostons Quabbin water supply !!
Just out of curiosity, do you think the town handled this issue well?
This seems to be an issue that we will face again and again in the near future. In my opinion, it was adequately addressed and planned for (and therefore, the NIMBY's complaints are not valid). However, I don't think the issue will be going away anytime soon. It'll need to be redressed again in the future and I hope our community continues to be proactive.
People should not assume that the water problem is over. Water scarcity is going to be a serious issue throughout this century and we need to start changing our norms around consumption of water. While it's true that other parts of the world will suffer (and already are) before we will in the Northeast, we still need to raise awareness starting now. Thanks to Larry for helping with that.
Lucky thing your advertiser boycott didn't put me out of business.
Relax.
Awareness plus $5.95 gets you a cup of coffee.
Amherst is populated by mainly Boston students-time to tap Bostons Quabbin water supply !!
And pay MWRA rates on all of your water & sewer. How's $1000+/month hit you?
Ed, quit meddling.
"Ed, quit meddling."
Give me what I want and I will go away.
Until then, get used to inconvenient facts being raised.
BTW: Watering your lawn runs in the $2000-$3000/month range under the MWRA...
''Avg. combined water and sewer cost $1,379.98 $1,428.92.''
ANNUAL average sewer and water rate 2013 and 2014 for a MWRA customer.
Lets not confuse the issue with facts!
Ed, no one is considering getting water from the Quabin. You are jabbering about nothing. Read the headline. Our reservoirs are full. Hello? Did you miss that?
What kids of irresponsible looser would water their lawn? That is not a community member.
Those who have been elsewhere, anywhere really, know we have minimal water issues in the northeast at the worse of times.
Next we are going to talk about the lack of trees.
Thanks for the pictures and data, Larry! I saw the low level pictures last summer and was wondering what Atkins looked like now and thought you might take care of that....
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