NET ZERO WATER USE POLICY
Water withdrawals are severely stressing the Ipswich River, a problem that is growing due to climate change and increasing rates of development. Even outside of drought conditions recent town studies indicate that communities that depend on Ipswich River water are at risk because of the lack of water supply resiliency.
Addressing water management in Ipswich River communities is especially urgent since the state set a fixed Safe Yield on withdrawals from the river in 2014 below existing authorized withdrawals. This means that communities that rely on the river for their water must live within existing limits forever. This puts municipalities in a position where they must provide enough reliable water to their residences and businesses within existing allocations or pursue alternatives outside the watershed.
A Net Zero toolkit was developed to assist communities in implementing Ipswich River's Net Zero Water Use Policy which was adopted in January of 2019. The Toolkit includes tools for land use, water conservation, and new programs which will help towns accommodate new growth and development while protecting the resiliency of their water supply. View town recommendations here.
Thanks to grants provided by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council’s Climate Resiliency Program and the Alces Foundation, Ipswich River partnered with the Town of Ipswich to develop a toolkit that can be used across the region to keep water withdrawals at or below existing levels in perpetuity. Using Ipswich as the town model, it became apparent that there are significant water savings to be had in most towns, and that water neutral growth is possible if we work together.
Due to the chronic stress the river is under due to water withdrawals, the river is particularly susceptible to droughts as was shown by the heartbreaking impacts of the 2016 drought.
