ROCKLAND – September 1, 2026 – Confronted with severe water supply limits and an ongoing Level 4 emergency declaration, the Rockland Select Board heard detailed presentations on regional expansion through the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and ongoing developer negotiations to unlock additional capacity. With town growth stalled by infrastructure constraints, officials weighed the multi-million-dollar long-term costs of joining the MWRA against the immediate need to secure water supplies and safeguard local ratepayers.
The Full Story
Rockland and Abington remain under an emergency water conservation order while grappling with aging water mains, strict safe yield limits under the Water Management Act, and regional housing pressures. At Tuesday’s meeting, leadership from the Abington-Rockland Joint Water Works (ARJWW) and regional engineering consultants laid out both immediate realities and decades-long infrastructure options.
ARJWW representatives highlighted recent milestones, notably bringing a PFAS water treatment plant online in March 2026 that removes contaminants beyond required thresholds, while managing the excavation expansion at Hannigan Reservoir and progress on Well No. 4 at Myers Avenue. However, ARJWW commissioners noted that groundwater and surface supplies are tightly restricted by state permits. Currently, the system relies on an emergency interconnection to purchase Brockton water through Whitman, an arrangement officials characterized as vital yet costly.
Board members focused sharply on how supply shortages continue to bottleneck commercial development and municipal tax growth. Board member Lori Childs noted that the stalled Union Point project could yield an estimated $4 million to $6 million annually in town tax revenues, emphasizing that developer-backed feasibility studies at Myers Avenue and the decommissioned Fox’s Pit well site should move forward promptly. In response, ARJWW officials noted they are actively conducting legal reviews of a revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) received in August from New England Development (NED). They stressed that testing requests—including allocations of up to 25,000 gallons of water—require strict state regulatory review and careful scrutiny to ensure future operational and capital costs do not fall onto local ratepayers.
“We are limited by what our Water Management Act permit allows us to withdraw out of the reservoirs, but that’s due to safe yields of what the source has available... We really need the community to kind of get together and follow those regulations and the restrictions.” — Kristel Cameron (ARJWW Superintendent) [23:44]
