Thursday, August 18, 2016

Amherst Institutes Mandatory Water Restrictions

MANDATORY WATER RESTRICTIONS AS OF MIDNIGHT.

Those of you who were alarmed by our 8/14 photo of Atkins Reservoir (namely the low water level) were not alone. The Reservoir is at 50%, and use spikes around the corner when the students return. In a move designed to be proactive, on Monday the Amherst Select Board voted to institute mandatory residential water restrictions starting at midnight tonight. The following activities will be prohibited: watering lawns, washing vehicles at non-commercial locations, washing building, sidewalks, and patios, and filling swimming pools. Residents are also encouraged to conserve water in other ways.

If only there were a way to distribute some of the 30" of rain that inundated Louisiana to other parts of the country that are dry and scorched.

Statement from the Town, as well as related resources follow below.

2016 Mandatory Water Restrictions

The Select Board, acting in its capacity as Water Commissioners, has authorized David Ziomek, Temporary Town Manager to implement Mandatory Water Restrictions for the Town of Amherst effective at 12:01 AM on Friday August 19th. Theses restrictions will stay in place until further notice. These restrictions are the result of a continued period of low precipitation and recent downgrade of the Connecticut River Region from drought advisory to drought watch status by the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

The Town of Amherst asks residents to comply with these restrictions to help address the impacts of drought conditions. This is an urgent situation- water conservation steps taken now will preserve water supplies in coming months should drought conditions continue. The Town has been working closely in partnership with the major institutional users in the community- the University of Massachusetts, Amherst College, and Hampshire College- to reduce overall water consumption. The community is very grateful for this collaborative effort as we enter a new academic year and as our population increases. Temporary Town Manager David Ziomek emphasized, "I'm asking all residents to work together to help the community thorough this difficult period. We all need to do as much as we can to conserver water now, so we have adequate supplies in September and October."

Mandatory water restrictions apply to all residential customers of the Amherst public water system and include the following prohibitions:

1. Watering lawns by any method.

2. Washing cars or trucks at non-commercial vehicle washes.
3. Washing of buildings, sidewalks or patios.
4. Filling of swimming pools.

The following water uses are allowed under these mandatory restrictions:

1. For the production of food and fiber for personal use or commercial sale.
2. For the maintenance of livestock.
3. To meet the core functions of a business (for example, irrigation by plant nurseries as
necessary to maintain stock).
4. For health and safety reasons.

The Town is also asking residents to conserve water in a variety of ways, including taking
briefer showers, avoiding letting the tap run while brushing teeth or washing dishes, and
other simple behavioral changes.

Resources

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On Puffer's Pond

Saturday, February 4, 2023, 3:35 pm: The past two days have seen record-breaking cold in the area, with the temperature dipping to -14F overnight, Friday into Saturday. To make matters worse, the wind was unyielding, whipping through the trees and driving wind chill readings down to -40F. In a season that had been unusually mild up until that point, it was something of a shock. Local residents were suddenly forced to think about warming up their cars, preventing pipes from freezing, and dressing in multiple layers to walk their dogs. By Saturday, while many were happy to hunker down and wait for temperatures to stop breaking low records, this was the moment that ice fishers and skaters had been waiting for all winter. With temps hovering around 12F (albeit above zero) by Saturday afternoon, Puffer's Pond was the place to be for about 30 people, many of whom were spread out over the ice, either ice fishing or playing hockey. While this is a fairly typical sight at Puffer's in the coldest winter months, our current lack of snow made it unique. No one had to contend with snowpack - the skaters didn't even have to clear a "field" for their game. And with all the hiking paths snow and ice-free, photographers had no trouble capturing water flowing through, under, and around layers of ice on the water. And, still, at 12F, without hand and foot warmers, I did not linger long. The temps will be rising quickly in the coming week, climbing well above freezing, even to 50F in the days to come. So, I'm guessing the skaters and ice fishers also won't be here much longer.

(Read past entries here.)

Head in the Clouds Amherst

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