Looking around from the middle of cold, windy farmland only a couple of football fields away from Mattapoisett’s borders to neighboring Fairhaven and Acushnet, a layman would never guess he was standing on top of a regional water resource.
On Monday morning, Buzzards Bay Coalition Vice President Brendan Annett visited the land to the immediate south of Acushnet Road which, in fact, sits atop an aquifer that serves Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Marion, Acushnet and Rochester.
The five towns, he explained, worked with the Buzzards Bay Coalition and the Mattapoisett River Valley Water Protection Advisory Committee and with support from the state’s Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant, have struck an agreement that puts a conservation restriction on 240 acres of land sitting at that Mattapoisett location and others extending north into Acushnet and Rochester.
The mission, he stated, is to protect important land so it is not developed and will not compromise a vital source of public drinking water that lies underneath.
“We actually approached this in a way where all the (aforementioned) towns contributed some money, Buzzards Bay (Coalition) contributed some money and we were able to get state grants,” he said.
What looks like some emptied-out, post-harvest farm acreage is actually a top layer of earth hiding a critical resource.
Annett said that the Mahoneys sold the coalition the land, and through actions of the Community Preservation committees in the towns that have them – plus a grant in Rochester – the coalition was able to take these steps.
While the Town of Rochester took action to participate, there has been a subsequent movement in the town among elected officials to seek further protection of their rights to water emanating from their town. Rochester has long been frustrated by the state’s redistribution of water from Great and Little Quittacas ponds to the City of New Bedford without any compensation due Rochester.
The completion of the Mattapoisett River Valley Drinking Water Resilience Project includes larger and smaller parcels to the north in Mattapoisett (extending over the Acushnet and Rochester town lines.)
Annett said that through the land transfer agreement, farming will continue on some of the parcels, including the one on which he spoke Monday, but he acknowledged that the conservation restriction comes with expectations that the farming process will not include actions or ingredients that add nitrogen to the land and, ultimately, the harbor.
Henri Renauld, superintendent of the Mattapoisett Water & Sewer Department, said in a press release that in working with its fellow communities and the Buzzards Bay Coalition, Mattapoisett has “once again secured and protected a section of land that will ensure the protection of the existing water infrastructure. It will also allow for future wells to be placed within these properties to ensure our communities will have safe drinking water into the future.”
According to the release, the community will soon be exploring expanded trails that connect to the coalition’s Mattapoisett River Reserve trail system and enjoy activities and programming in the farm buildings at Red Brick Farm.
By Mick Colageo