Hopkinton Water-Sewer Manager Eric Carty issued an announcement Wednesday reminding residents and business owners that the town is at a Level 3 critical drought status and, as such, no lawn watering is permitted.
Another heat wave is predicted for the next few days, with temperatures in the 90s, and the drought continues to worsen, Carty noted.
“Groundwater levels continue to decrease, limiting pumping capacity,” Carty stated. “State restrictions on the Ashland plant are also now in place reducing the amount of pumping from the plant. Under our current water use restriction, there is no lawn watering permitted. Please make sure that all automatic sprinklers are in the off position. The filling of pools, vehicle washing, power washing and all other non-essential use is also prohibited.”
Added Carty: “It is extremely important that everyone follow these restrictions to ensure we have an adequate supply of water for our essential daily needs and for fighting fires. Thank you for your cooperation in this very important matter.”
Hopkinton never passed the law to permit it to restrict watering from private wells. Therefore the restriction only applies to those on Town water. Personally I never had an issue if the Town passed the law permitting to restrict well water usage. I do have a problem when the Town by silence or implication wants people to believe they have the authority to restrict private well use for irrigation.
Someone needs to inform Dell/EMC and 63-65 South St. businesses of this restriction! sprinklers continue to run at these places, even during the minimal rain we have gotten.