The abundant rains this spring and summer have made it easy to forget that between 2002 and 2007, Connecticut weathered three major droughts in some portions of the state. Although none were multi-year droughts such as occurred during the 1960’s, in the past 40 years the state has experienced intense commercial and residential development that have taxed the water basins.
“We’re concerned about whether there will be enough water, should drought similar to that of the 1960’s occur,” says Patricia Bresnahan, associate director of the Connecticut Institute of Water Resources, “and about whether existing water allocation plans are up to the challenge.”
The Institute is part of the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment in the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
To investigate these questions, the Institute funded a project with the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition to conduct a tabletop drought crisis simulation exercise.
The Pomperaug Watershed is a 90-square-mile area that includes large portions of the towns of Bethlehem, Woodbury, and Southbury and small areas of Roxbury, Washington, Morris, Watertown, and Middlebury. This watershed was chosen for the simulation because it has been well studied and because the coalition is known for high-quality work and strong connections with local stakeholders.
The exercise was held last December in Southbury. More than 40 people attended, including local and state officials, Bresnahan, Glenn Warner, director of the Institute of Water Resources, and Garret Scheibel, an undergraduate student. Graduate student Judith Rondeau gathered and summarized relevant state documents for the exercise.
A drought affects multiple towns with varying water supplies and infrastructure. The simulation exercise demonstrated the need for an emergency management plan that addresses safety and health concerns, in-stream flow needs, and town boundary issues.
“What it comes down to, says Bresnahan, “is that there is a lack of consistency and coordination at the local, state, and regional scales of emergency management to handle a drought situation.
“Water is a lot like money,” she adds. “You need a budget. This isn’t just about short-term conservation, but long-term planning. We need to plan, now.”
Funding for this project was provided by a state appropriation to the Institute of Water Resources to address this and other questions related to water basin planning.
In 2005, the Water Resource Management Subcommittee of the state’s Water Planning Council developed a water allocation policy planning model.
The model, endorsed by the legislature as a template for decision making, affirms that water allocation plans should be made at a water basin level through a process that is science-based and involves the participation of local stakeholders. But there are currently no basin-scale political bodies in Connecticut that have the legal authority to make decisions about water allocation.
The lessons learned from the Pomperaug study were used to help identify some of the challenges to implementing the model. A draft white paper (PDF: 661 KB) prepared by the Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition in July proposes corrective action plans for use by the state, towns, and stakeholders, and addresses communications and emergency operations, assessment techniques, water allocation, and implementation plans.
The results of the study have also been presented to the state’s Drinking Water Emergency and Security Advisory Committee and Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Coordinating Council.
Bresnahan says there is a lot of interest in the project in the emergency management community.
She notes that the Department of Public Health requires public water suppliers to come up with five-year plans that show projected demand and supply, and would like to incorporate the drought planning issues identified by this project into the planning process.
“We’re very excited about [this],” she says, “because [it] is one step closer to actual water allocation planning via a political process.”
