LYNNFIELD — The Lynnfield Center Water District (LCWD), which at the beginning of May implemented routine seasonal water use restrictions, is reminding residents that those restrictions still exist and are at Level 3.
Restrictions are in place through the month at a minimum.
Level 3 water restrictions mean outdoor lawn and garden watering is only allowed starting at 8 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays through 6 a.m. the following day and is prohibited at all other times. Residents are allowed to use hand held hoses and watering cans while this restriction is in place throughout the balance of the week if needed.
While it is September, the unseasonable and historic dry conditions and minimal precipitation have strained the LCWD’s groundwater well water sources and are now impacting the district’s storage capacity and ability to operate the system to safe and required system pressures.
“The district is experiencing demand equal to the peak of early summer,” said LCWD Director John Scenna. “These are daily usage and percentage increases we simply don’t have the infrastructure in place to consistently sustain regardless of it is June or September. We have to also always be mindful of our ability to supply and maintain fire suppression.”
Restrictions are also triggered by withdrawal permits with the Ipswich River Watershed. Those permits use the streamflow level of the Ipswich River as a benchmark and the river has been below said benchmark for the last few weeks.
Scenna said that, “Adjustments in watering cycles and cooperation from customers through this weekend and next week is how best to manage the demand versus supply struggle we are currently experiencing.”
“Be mindful of the situation and make the effort to abide by adjusting watering cycles, intervals and durations over the next week,” said Scenna.
Meanwhile, the LCWD recently began construction of the new greensand and PFAS filter plant at Glen Drive pumping station this month; has completed water transmission piping improvements to connect the LCWD system with the Wakefield MWRA water source; is currently bidding the interconnection vault that will transfer said water to the LCWD; and is on track to complete all permitting with state and local agencies to join the MWRA in March of 2025. Once these projects are complete, restriction plans will be adjusted.
The LCWD is also currently bidding a project to transfer water from Station 2 on Main Street, where a pilot PFAS filter system is in place. The pipeline will be mainly installed within an easement on the Sagamore Spring Golf Club, which was granted as part of the Toll Brothers project on the golf site. A Special District Meeting will be held on Wednesday, Sept. 25 to seek approval from district ratepayers to utilize the balance of State Revolving Funds available to LCWD at zero percent interest to complete this last phase of infrastructure improvements.
Scenna also recently recommended and the board approved, the promotion of longtime LCWD operator Nick Couris to the position of working superintendent. Couris will oversee daily system operations and continue to work alongside Scenna, who will continue to serve as LCWD director and as the town’s Department of Public Works director.
“Nick has the experience, leadership ability and licensure to lead and run this this system into the next decade,” said Scenna at a recent LCWD Board of Water Commissioners meeting. “I have full faith in his ability to lead our operators, work with contractors, run our current system safely and to all standards and most importantly, also merge all the improved infrastructure we are investing in and constructing into the daily operations.”
Couris started with the district in 2009 as a secondary drinking water operator and now holds full D3, T3, T4 OIT, DEP Backflow, DEP Cross Connection and MA Hoisting Licenses. Sean Dillon is replacing him as the LCWD primary distribution system operator.
Customers with questions or concerns about the restrictions or projects can call 781-334-3901 or email lcwd@lcwd.us.