Water Resource Management

The Topsfield Water Department operates two ground water supplies that provide water to its customers. During the 1990's it was not uncommon for the supplies to run at capacity for periods during the summer months. Recent changes to our water withdrawal permit have come into effect that have reduced the amount of water used during the summer.

The permit changes now require the Town to implement water use restrictions based on Ipswich River stream flow levels and cap the amount of water we an withdraw between May 1st and September 30th. The Board of Water Commissioners is responsible for managing the restrictions.

Even though we will typically have a mandatory water ban each summer it is not due to a lack of water to pump. The restrictions are based on environmental concerns about the Ipswich River. The amount of water we can pump is limited by the new permit changes not our pumping capacity.

Water Management Act ( 2 Articles )

The Water Management Act gives the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection the authority to regulate ground water and surface water withdrawals in excess of 0.100 million gallons per day (MGD). The Water Management Act was enacted during the 1980's and there were quite a few water suppliers that fell under the new regulations.
The regulations created what is refered to as a "registration" volume which is the amount of water historically withdrawn by the supplier at the time DEP's regulation took affect. Some suppliers have filed for water management permits to allow withdrawals in excess of the registration volume.
The Town of Topsfield has a registration volume of 0.430 MGD and a permitted volume of 0.170 MGD.
Water Restrictions 2009 ( 4 Articles )

This section contains information about water restrictions implemented in 2009.