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Public Water Supply
in the Assabet:
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Assabet
Watershed Communities:
Westborough
Grafton
Shrewsbury
Boylston
Northborough
Marlborough
Berlin
Clinton
Hudson
Bolton
Stow
Harvard
Boxborough
Maynard
Sudbury
Acton
Concord
Carlisle
Littleton
Westford
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The Assabet Watershed includes all or part of
20 communties. Seven of these communities -- Acton, Concord,
Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, Northborough and Westborough
-- get all or part of their public water supply from groundwater
and surface water sources in the Assabet watershed. (Note
that not everyone in these communities has municipal water;
some residents and businesses have private wells or buy water
from private water suppliers.)
Each year these communities report how much water
they used each month, by source, during the previous year.
These "Public Water Supply Annual Statistical Reports,"
submitted to the Department of Environmental Protection (MA
DEP), may also have information about water conservation,
wellhead protection and the portion of water used by different
types of customers (i.e. "residential, commercial, etc.).
2002 Reported Withdrawals for Public Water
Supply:
| Community |
Total 2002 reported water use
(MGY*) |
Water withdrawn from Assabet
watershed (MGY) |
Percent of public water supply
from Assabet watershed |
| Acton |
679.7 |
679.7 |
100% |
| Concord |
861.0 |
209.9 |
24% |
| Hudson |
877.1 |
778.8 |
89% |
| Marlborough |
1,818.8 |
215.2 |
12% |
| Maynard |
349.6 |
349.6 |
100% |
| Northborough |
344.8 |
0.0** |
0%** |
| Westborough |
803.7 |
509.8 |
63% |
* MGY = million gallons per year
** 100% of Northborough's water came from MWRA in 2002
 Seasonal
Water Use:
Data from the 2002 water-use reports
shows that average daily water use in the seven communites
increased 12 - 49% during the summer. This increase is primarily
due to lawn watering and other outdoor uses such as car washing.
Increased summertime water use can reduce streamflows just
when the streams are naturally at their lowest and the habitat
for fish is at its most vulnerable. The table below shows
the reported average daily water use in 2002 during the summer
(June - August) compared with the rest of the year (Jan -
May and Sept - Dec).
| Community |
Average daily water use Jan-May
& Sept-December '02 (MGD*) |
Average daily summertime '02
water use (June-Aug) |
Percent increase (summertime
vs. other nine months) |
| Acton |
1.73 |
2.26 |
30% |
| Concord |
2.10 |
3.12 |
49% |
| Hudson |
2.26 |
2.82 |
25% |
| Marlborough |
4.51 |
6.38 |
41% |
| Maynard |
0.95 |
1.08 |
14% |
| Northborough |
0.86 |
1.21 |
40% |
| Westborough |
2.12 |
2.45 |
15% |
*MGD = million gallons per day
Click here to see more details
of the 2002
water use data and statistics by community.
How do you know when water
withdrawals or other activities such as land developement
are affecting streamflow and water quality?
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