Wilmington Represented On New North Shore Water Resiliency Task Force

Hathorne, MA — The Office of State Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr (R-1st Essex and Middlesex) announced Monday the formation of a group that will work to protect and sustain the Ipswich River Watershed, which provides drinking water to 350,000 people and thousands of businesses in 14 communities in northeastern Massachusetts.

The North Shore Water Resiliency Task Force will be comprised of numerous stakeholders, including over 20 municipalities, public water suppliers, and environmental organizations. Local municipalities like Andover, North Andover, Wilmington, Burlington, Reading and North Reading are part of the group.

"The Town of North Andover is proud to collaborate with our neighbors to work toward protecting our most valuable asset, our water," said Melissa Rodrigues, North Andover town manager. "I applaud our legislation partners for joining us in this charge."

The task force's overarching goal, according to organizers of the group, is to develop consensus on one or more initiatives to increase the health of the river and strengthen water supply sustainability, and to take action on those initiatives.

"The watershed represents the lifeblood for our region," Tarr said. "The issues of drought and water supply cannot be effectively addressed without a regional approach and I believe that our stakeholders have the ability to come together in an unprecedented way that can lead the Commonwealth."

Tarr continued: "We are now holding a framework for the future that empowers us to work on one of the most vexing problems that our communities face — access to clean water."

According to Tarr's office, nearly two years of intensive conversations took place before stakeholders agreed on a charter that established the structure of the task force.

The operations of the group will be facilitated by a three-person team consisting of Sara Cohen, from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and Martin Pillsbury and Leah Robins, both from the Metropolitan Area Planning Commission (MAPC).

In addition to Tarr, the long list of legislative convenors of the organization includes State Senator Barry Feingold (D-2nd Essex and Middlesex) and State Representatives Christina Minicucci (D-14th Essex), Tram Nguyen (D-18th Essex) and Dave Robertson (D-19th Middlesex).

Throughout the development of the task force, the conveners have said their role is not to make decisions for the stakeholders, but to create the opportunity for the stakeholders to reach an agreement on actions they can take together.

Representatives for the task force said the group could be working on initiatives like; increasing water capture and storage facilities, more extensive water sharing, regional conservation efforts, and additional imports from other sources.

"Andover is proud to be a partner of this important charter along with our other members," said Christopher Cronin, the director of Public Works for the Town of Andover. "The North Shore Water Resilience Task Force will lay the groundwork for sustainable water planning for years to come."