Ipswich River Basin Draft Report Released

NORTH SHORE, MA – The report on the Ipswich River Basin's uses, constraints, and challenges has been released and posted to the Hamilton town website. The executive summary of the 82-page draft noted that in general, water users have made "significant gains in demand reduction and are using water efficiently."

The report said that as climate change leads to higher temperatures for longer periods of time, "the effects of natural processes on streamflow depletion is only expected to increase."

Danvers, Hamilton, Wenham, Middleton, Lynnfield Center Water District, and Topsfield contributed to the report with the Massachusetts Water Works Association and with technical and engineering consulting support from Kleinfelder.

The report sought answers to the following questions, per the summary:

• What are the constraints of the Ipswich Basin governing its hydrology?
• How are the Basin water resources being used?
• What opportunities are there to better manage water in the Basin?
• Is there enough water for future municipal public water supply needs?
• What are the Basin water supplier needs and challenges, particularly for Grant Partner communities?

The Town of Danvers, leading a regional collaboration, was awarded a $103,940 Mass. DEP grant in January for water withdrawal planning and data collection.

Click here to read the full draft report.

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