No nonessential outdoor water use from 9 am to 5 pm. in the City of Gardner triggered by low streamflow. The Chair Man and Chair Lady did a “Deep Dive” to explain the Water Management Policies in Massachusetts. Listen on any device, CLICK PLAY.
Low Streamflow Values Trigger Water Restrictions in Gardner MA
The City of Gardner announced: “On July 27, 2025, City Officials informed MassDEP of low streamflow values which triggered the requirement in the Water Management Act permit requiring nonessential water use restrictions. This is an operational requirement in the City’s permit. No nonessential outdoor water use from 9 am to 5 pm.
MassDEP regulations (310 CMR 22.15(8)) require that all public water systems establishing mandatory restrictions on water use notify the Department in writing within 14 days of the effective date of these restrictions.” The City of Gardner is proactive in meeting these requirements. Here is the letter sent by the City’s vendor, Veolia IMAGE CLICK HERE. PDF CLICK HERE
So what are the requirements to which the City of Gardner must adhere? For Gardner that is when the streamflow is at 11 cubic feet per second at USGS Gage ID#01163200. The reasoning is this from the WMA guide: “All groundwater permittees with withdrawals in subbasins with significant groundwater depletion must minimize the impacts of their withdrawals in those subbasins.” WMA guidance is contained in a 69 page guide which we are providing for our readers here in its entirety, CLICK HERE.
Further information was provided by Fabienne Alexis, the Deputy Press Secretary for the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection who noted the following in an email to Gardner Magazine, “The City of Gardner informed MassDEP on July 27, 2025 that low streamflow values triggered the requirement in their WMA permit requiring nonessential water use restrictions (see attached). This is an operational requirement in the City’s permit. This is not the same as a state-declared drought. Note that there may be many reasons for a town to impose watering restrictions. They could be due to local operational issues, local water quality issues or other stresses on their water supply, requirements in a town’s permit issued by MassDEP, or a drought declaration. For Massachusetts, droughts are determined by the secretary of Massachusetts’ Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) and are based on recommendations from the Drought Management Task Force. The Task Force’s last monthly meeting was in early July and assessed conditions through the end of June. The next meeting will be on August 9 to discuss conditions through the end of July. The City of Gardner currently notes on its website the State’s Drought status that is in effect from June 1, 2025. Gardner is in the Central Region, which is not currently identified as being in a drought. For more information on the EEA Secretary’s determinations and Task Force meeting schedules, please visit: Drought Management Task Force. For more information about data compiled on Drought.gov, please contact the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS).”