Residents Encouraged to Conserve Ahead of Expected Summer Drought

ROWLEY – The Rowley Water Department is issuing a temporary ban on all non-essential outdoor water use, effective May 1.

Residents are asked to refrain from non-essential use from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily, until further notice.

Private well owners are not subject to the ban but are asked to consider limiting outdoor water use because both private and municipal wells tap the same local water table. 

The ban comes in response to the state declaring a Level 2 Significant Drought for communities in the Northeast, including Rowley, on April 9. This alone would normally lead the Department to declare limits on outdoor water use.

In October 2024, the department stopped using Well #2, which provides about 40 percent of the Town’s water supply, because the water contains levels of PFAS that are above the maximum contamination level (MCL).

PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — are a group of man-made chemicals used in common consumer products that are found in water systems across the country. PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they do not break down easily. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set strict new limits for PFAS in drinking water to protect public health. The town is investigating long-term treatment options to reduce PFAS levels in the water from Well #2 and get Well #2 operating again.

Water from Wells #3 and #5 are well below both current and future state MCL.

“With a potential drought and loss of a well, we could have a difficult summer ahead,” Bernie Cullen, Rowley Water Board Chair, said. “Our water supply is vital to our public health and safety, so we’re asking our residents to do everything they can to help us conserve in the coming months.”

For more information on drought status in Massachusetts, visit: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/drought-status.

Allowable/Essential Uses

The following are allowable outdoor water uses during a declared ban:

• Health or safety – this includes long-established uses like firefighting and municipal pipe flushing to prevent contaminants in water supply pipes. Flushing is conducted twice a year to help ensure sustained water quality and support the longevity of the system’s infrastructure, making it essential.
  Also:
  1. Public facilities used for cooling, such as splash pads and swimming pools, and;
  2. For washing of boats, engines, or marine equipment to prevent negative saltwater impacts or the transfer of invasive aquatic species,
• For the production of food, including privately-owned home vegetable gardens
• To meet the core functions (those functions essential to the commercial operations) of a business, such as:
  1. For the maintenance of livestock,
  2. By permit, license, statute or regulation,
  3. Plant nurseries to maintain stock,
  4. Venues used for weddings or similar special events that limit watering to hand-held hose or drip irrigation to maintain gardens, flowers and ornamental plants,
  5. Golf courses to maintain greens and tees, and limited fairway watering (this is further described in 310 CMR 36.07(2)(c)2.a. through c. of the regulations), 6. Professional washing of building exteriors, parking lots, driveways or sidewalks as necessary to apply paint, preservatives, stucco, pavement, or cement in the course of construction, reconstruction or renovation work
• To irrigate public parks before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.
• To irrigate public and private recreation fields, including those operated by schools, colleges, universities and athletic associations, before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m.
• To irrigate publicly funded shade trees and trees in the public right-of-way; or
• To establish a new lawn to stabilize soil after new construction or repair/replacement of a Title 5 system.