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Water Use Limits May Cut Growth

Eastern Massachusetts is running dry.

In fact, if towns don’t do more to conserve water, experts warn that rivers in that part of the state could literally run dry within the next decade. To prevent this from happening in that area and elsewhere in the state, Massachusetts has begun to set water limits for towns statewide.

The problem stems from towns withdrawing large amounts of ground water, laying down too much pavement (which prevents the ground from soaking up rain water) and carrying water away to other areas through sewage systems. Too much development strains water systems and conversely, a lack of water supplies prevents further growth.

So if towns wish to continue thriving, they need to use this resource less often and more wisely.

People have grown accustomed to limited water supplies in the US West, where for decades, farmers, industry and cities have battled over how much of a limited supply they can obtain.  Except for times of drought, only now is water availability emerging as a problem in the East, not just in Massachusetts but up and down the Atlantic seaboard. Years of population growth have increased demand, and that same growth has increasingly restricted options about where new reservoirs might be placed. 

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To read more about this and other environmental health issues, go to: www.environmentalhealthnews.org, www.ourstolenfuture.org, or www.healthandenvironment.org