Despite- or due to-legislative inaction, Governor Malloy today (June 14th) issued an Executive Order for state agencies to begin implementing the State Water Plan as originally drafted. The order also directed the Water Planning Council to re-submit the plan- in its original draft form- to the legislature by Dec 1st.

His order left intact the "water is a public trust" language that was so opposed by a coalition of water utilities, golf associations, and the CT Business and Industry Association.

As the water plan is largely a platform for informed decision-making, much of its work can proceed while awaiting a second round at the legislature. The Water Planning Council will meet on June 15th with "Implementation" leading its agenda.

See the Executive Order at: portal.ct.gov/-/media/D5B15C2FB2134AFAB6E70F56F516B7E7.pdf

Both CT's Council on Environmental Quality and the CT Water Planning Council recently released their reviews of the City of New Britain’s Report entitled Environmental Study: Change in Use of New Britain Water Company Land (Proposed Quarry Expansion and Future Water Storage Reservoir). Both the CEQ and the WPC concluded that the environmental damage caused by the expanded strip mining operation in Class I and Class I watershed lands would be significant.  In addition, both expert bodies found  quite questionable the study assumptions and conclusion that an additional reservoir was necessary for New Britain's future water needs.

Given the alarming precedent that this proposal would set-allowing Class I and II protected watershed land to be sold for the benefit of a private for-profit corporation- it is hopeful that these expert analyses of its impact will put a halt to this ill-advised plan.

Read the Executive Summary from the Water Planning Council below. The full C.E.Q. report can be found at:www.ct.gov/ceq/lib/ceq/CEQ_Comments_on_NB_Watershed_Environ_Study_-_final_5-25-18.pdf

The “Water Planning Council’s” Review Pursuant to Public Act 16-61 of the City of New Britain’s Report entitled Environmental Study: Change in Use of New Britain Water Company Land (Proposed Quarry Expansion and Future Water Storage Reservoir):
 
"Public Act 16-61, An Act Concerning An Environmental Study On A Change In Use Of New Britain Water Company Land, required the City Of New Britain to commission an environmental report  to be submitted to the Water Planning Council (WPC), the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), and the City of New Britain’s Conservation Commission.  The purpose of the report was to examine the potential impact of changing the use of some of its city water department-owned Class I and Class II land to allow the lease of land for the extraction of stone and other minerals on such property.
 
This extraction operation, which would be done over a period of 35-40 years, could potentially create a new public water supply reservoir of 2.31 billion gallons capacity for the New Britain Water Department.  The reservoir would be filled with water from a flood-skimming operation at Coppermine Brook in Bristol, taking an estimated 6-28 months to fill the reservoir from this source.  The new water supply reservoir is described in the Executive Summary as being 109 acres in surface area (though other figures are given elsewhere in the Report) and up to 130’ deep.
 
PA 16-61 charges the WPC and the CEQ with reviewing the report to determine:

1. the potential impact on the environment and the purity and adequacy of the existing and future public water supply; and
2. to provide guidance to the New Britain Water Department concerning the suitability of the best management practices identified for the protection of the environment, public water supply and public health.

 
Much of the area that would be impacted in the proposed expanded area of quarrying is located in the active public drinking water supply watershed of the Shuttle Meadow Reservoir.  That area also includes rare habitat and, according to the city’s report, the area is also home to a plant species previously thought to no longer to be present in the state.
 
As will be discussed further, the WPC finds that preparation for quarrying, including clear-cutting the forest and removing the stumps, soil and other natural material, followed by quarry operations, would eliminate much of the wild habitat of the site while creating the potential for decades of increased risk to the city’s nearby Shuttle Meadow Reservoir.
 
The WPC finds that the city’s report does not substantiate the need for the proposed new reservoir or, in fact, that the proposed reservoir would even be a viable public water storage facility.  Based on its review, the WPC finds that the proposal’s risks to the current public water system and the environment are significant and the city’s report does not make a plausible case for undertaking such an activity."