Dispute may drain Lynn’s water supply

LYNN – Lynn gets most of its drinking water from the Saugus River but during a dry spell, it has the legal right to withdraw additional gallons from the endangered Ipswich River.Unfortunately, the latter waterway is already overburdened by population growth and rampant development on the North Shore, to such extent that the river actually flows backward at least one day a year, usually in August when demand is highest.Although environmental groups in recent years have taken steps to protect the Ipswich River from overuse, a decision earlier this week by Gov. Deval Patrick could permanently set back their efforts. Four of those groups, so incensed by the governor’s ruling that relaxes water withdrawal permit restrictions, resigned as members of the state Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Water Resources management Advisory Committee.The dissenting groups included the Conservation Law Foundation, the Charles River Watershed Association, the Ipswich River Watershed Association and Clean Water Action.According to Becky Smith from Clean Water Action, the resignations were in response to the Patrick administration’s reversal of its policy that once protected the environment and was fundamental in determining how much water could be withdrawn from a river basin under the Water Management Act.Daniel O’Neill, executive director of the Lynn Water & Sewer Commission (LWSC), said the argument over how a state permit curtails or increases the amount of water drawn from a river does not directly impact the commission. “We do not have a permit. We have a water registration, issued in 2008 and good for 10 years,” he said Friday, noting that the courts last December upheld a lawsuit brought by LWSC and 13 other water-delivery organizations. “The DEP has appealed that decision and the case will go before the Supreme Judicial Court as early as November.”O’Neill explained that LWSC is limited to withdrawing 11.5 million gallons of water per day – 8.9 million from the Saugus River and the remainder from the Ipswich River, between December and May. The court ruling preserved that right.”As long as we stay within our registration rights, I think we’ll be fine. I guess we really don’t have a dog in this fight because we don’t have a permit,” he said.The state policy protecting watershed basins had been in effect under five prior governors, all of whom agreed that a river’s “safe yield” includes leaving at least some water in a river to sustain fish and other forms of aquatic life.”The dispute relative to safe yield is associated with fish flow in the basins studied,” said O’Neill, referring to the state’s 27 watershed basins and noting that the permits indicate how much water must be left in the river so that fish can live. “The commission shares many of the goals and objectives of the groups in preserving and delivering safe and clean drinking water to the residents of Lynn,” he said.Under the Patrick administration’s new safe yields, it would be legally possible to withdraw another 22 million gallons from the Ipswich River.”The decision guts the protection of the Water Management Act for rivers, fisheries and recreation,” said Kerry Mackin, executive director of the Ipswich River Watershed Association.In 2007, a Superior Court ruling concluded that the DEP “safe yield” for the Ipswich River was too high, given that the river frequently dries up in summer, resulting in fish kills and other environmental damage. The DEP has challenged that ruling.”The Ipswich River has been pumped dry repeatedly for decades because the state allowed too much water to be withdrawn, but under the new policy, the state could increase water withdrawals from the river by 60 percent,” said Mackin. “Does anyone really believe that the Ipswich River can provide this much water when it was pumped dry before? This decision makes no sense.”For the past decade, water levels in the Ipswich River have decreased, especially in summer when people fill swimming pools, wa