The Land We Need for the Water We Use

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1 How do we provide high-quality water? Before water ever reaches your tap, it goes through a multi-step process: Protect: Our source water protection program focuses on watershed management and aquifer protection to maintain the quality of our drinking water sources. Treatment: Ground water is naturally filtered underground. Reservoir water is treated at our filtration plants. Both ground and reservoir water are disinfected with chlorine to kill microbes that can cause illness. Fluoride is added to prevent dental cavities and phosphate to minimize corrosion of pipes. Distribute: Finished water is delivered to customers through a network of pipes, pumping stations and storage tanks. We carefully maintain this extensive distribution system. Monitor: We conduct thousands of tests a month in our state-certified laboratory. We collect and test samples from numerous locations throughout our distribution system, along with filtration plants as well as lakes and aquifers. The Land We Need for the Water We Use South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority

2 A critical element in our source Water Quality Is More Than a Reservoir Issue water protection efforts is land acquisition and protection. We spend several million dollars each year to buy watershed lands. To ensure drinking water quality, watershed and aquifer lands need to be preserved. At the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority, our mission is to provide our customers with a reliable supply of high-quality water. As stewards to more than 26,000 acres of land, we manage our land and water supplies to fulfill our mission, now and in the future. This brochure explains our land policy, which includes why we acquire and sell land. Over 80 percent of the region s tap water comes from 10 reservoirs located in the district towns of Bethany, Branford, East Haven, Guilford, Hamden,, Madison, North Branford, and Woodbridge. The balance of the water comes from the Quinnipiac and Mill River aquifers located in Hamden and Cheshire. The watersheds that replenish these reservoirs and aquifers cover about 118 square miles. How large is that? It s almost six times larger than the city of New Haven or twice the size of Washington, D.C. To ensure that your tap water is consistently of high quality, we adhere to a multi-barrier approach that encompasses source water protection, treatment, distribution and extensive water quality monitoring. It takes a network of over 1,550 miles of pipes, pumping stations and storage tanks to deliver water in the region. We carefully maintain this extensive distribution system to assure that water is available when you turn on your faucet. Our source water protection efforts include security patrols, review of development plans that may threaten the watershed areas, and limited public access to the protected open space, as well as the mapping of resources and inspection of activities within the watersheds. We also operate a regional household hazardous waste collection facility. Another critical element in our source water protection efforts is land acquisition and protection. We spend several million dollars each year to buy watershed lands. This is an important investment for the long-term protection of our region s water supply. We are committed to funding future acquisition of watershed properties critical to the protection of both surface and groundwater. 1

3 Water Quality Is a Land Issue Since the 1980s, we have invested $17 million to protect nearly 5,000 acres of watershed land in the region so we can maintain the high level of water quality for our customers. (See map of region). Buying and protecting watershed land is effective in preventing the degradation of water quality and helps to minimize treatment expenses. Simply put: Keeping this land undeveloped is essential because the better the quality of the source water flowing into our reservoirs, the fewer contaminants that need to be removed to protect drinking water. Over the years, to permanently protect watershed land in our region, we have purchased land outright or have secured conservation easements. We have also joined with other non-profit environmental organizations to successfully connect scattered parcels of forested watershed lands into a network of open space to protect drinking water. The timeline on the inside back cover reflects our efforts over the past two decades. Although much of the land adjacent to reservoirs is already owned by us, there is an additional estimated 3,000 acres of privately owned watershed land in our region that is desirable for protection. Acquiring this land requires careful planning as well as adequate funding. Glossary Aquifer: An underground layer of rock, gravel, or sediment containing usable quantities of water. Conservation Easement: A legal agreement that prohibits or limits certain kinds of development on a particular property while allowing the landowner to continue to own it and utilize the land. Groundwater: Fresh water found beneath the earth s surface (usually in aquifers); often used to supply drinking water to wells and springs. Reservoir: A pond, lake or basin either natural or artificial for storage of water. Source Water: Untreated water from streams, reservoirs or aquifers used for public water supply. Watershed: The land area from which water drains into a water body such as a stream or reservoir. 2 3

4 Water Quality Is Managing Land Assets Just like any business, we carefully review the assets of our water system. In our sizable landholdings, we identified about 900 acres of non-water system land. These parcels are not needed for the operation, protection and maintenance of our water system now or in the future. We intend to sell these parcels in order to keep water rates as low as possible. Land sales are something we do not enter into lightly. We must follow a lengthy statutory process to sell a parcel of land. Besides notification of local community officials, and land and conservation agencies, we tell the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection, and the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. We also conduct an in-depth land study and environmental evaluation. These investigations, depending upon parcel size, can cost as much as $20,000. We also hold a public hearing prior to any sale of land. Based on these required procedures, we anticipate that selling these 900 acres will take us between five and 10 years. A Tale of Two Watersheds While our drinking water is plentiful, development can create challenges to maintaining source water quality. As the aerial photo above shows, various types of urban and suburban development can surround a reservoir. Reservoir water quality deteriorates with increasing development on its watershed. The lower photo shows a well-protected, forested watershed surrounding the reservoir. Land ownership is a critical element for our source water protection program. Since 1980, we have sold 1,779 acres of land that were not necessary to protect water quality or useful for our water system. From this effort, we received $24 million. We applied these funds to offset the cost of our capital improvement program, which includes land acquisitions. At the bottom of this page are examples of land that we sold in the region. The inside back covers contain timelines of land sales and purchases. RWA Land Sold In Region A Few Examples Madison In 1999, the North Madison Congregational Church purchased two acres of land for parking. Milford In 2005, Riverbrook LLC purchased 17 acres for the construction of residential age-restricted housing. New Haven In 1987, nine acres of property in Fair Haven was sold for cluster- type residential development. Orange In 2000, the Town of Orange purchased 230 acres of our Racebrook property, making the acquisition the largest tract of open space in the town s history. West Haven In 1989, Sursum Corda Properties purchased 70 acres of property on Route 34 in Allingtown to build a life care center. Woodbridge In 2005, Woodbridge town officials began the process of acquiring 181 acres of our Racebrook property in phases over several years. In 2005, the town purchased nearly 62 acres of land. At the end of 2006, the town acquired roughly another 66 acres. Woodbridge has until 2009 to acquire the third and final phase of the property. 4 5

5 Acres to Protect by RWA Southington RWA Public Water Supply Watersheds and Aquifers Wolcott RWA Water System Lands Meriden Cheshire RWA Non-Water System Property Prospect Durham Haddam Wallingford Bethany Hamden North Haven In the communities listed below, there are approximately 3,000 acres of watershed land that we would like to purchase. Bethany Cheshire Durham East Haven Guilford Haddam Hamden Madison North Branford North Haven Orange Woodbridge Acres to Sell by RWA North Branford In the communities below, there are approximately 900 acres of land we Woodbridge Madison New Haven Guilford Branford Orange West Haven East Haven want to sell. Branford East Haven Guilford Madison Milford North Branford Orange Prospect Woodbridge Milford January, 2007 For more informvvation about our water system land program, contact: or call:

6 Regional Water Authority Land & Easement Purchases acres Cheshire acres Guilford acres Madison, acres acres acres acres Madison acres acres acres** Bethany acres Bethany acres Guilford acres Guilford acres North Haven....7 acres Madison acres Northford acres 43.3 acres Hamden....2 acres East Haven acres acres Hamden....6 acres acres acres Haddam acres Woodbridge acres* Madison acres acres Durham acres Bethany acres acres * acres acres Hamden acres* Durham acres Durham acres Durham acres East Haven....6 acres acres acres acres Guilford acres 4.4 acres acres acres acres Durham acres Durham acres acres* Bethany acres Hamden...8 acres Bethany acres Bethany acres* acres Durham acres Durham acres acres acres acres* Hamden acres Bethany acres Bethany acres acres* 57.5 acres Madison acres Hamden acres New Haven...8 acres acres Madison acres* Bethany acres acres Bethany acres * acres Madison acres Hamden acres * Durham acres acres * 3.3 acres acres acres acres * Cheshire acres * acres Northford acres....6 acres Guilford acres Bethany acres Hamden acres * Bethany acres acres Bethany acres Hamden acres.32 acres Woodbridge acres acres acres Branford acres Woodbridge acres acres acres acres Madison acres acres Cheshire acres Bethany acres Bethany acres Cheshire acres 1 acre North Haven... 1 acre.3 acres....3 acres acres Bethany acres acres Durham acres Bethany acres * Conservation easements ** In 1998, the Authority made a financial contribution to assist The Nature Conservancy in protecting 237 acres of watershed land. This transaction was part of a larger conservation easement between the Hammonasset Fishing Association and The Nature Conservancy to protect 2,124 acres of land in Madison and.

7 Regional Water Authority Land Sales acres North Haven acres North Haven acres acres Hamden acres Branford acres New Haven acres Branford acres Branford acres Branford acres 40.7 acres New Haven....2 acres Hamden...3 acres Hamden acres New Haven....3 acres Milford acres Hamden...2 acres acres Hamden acres Hamden acres New Haven acres Milford acres 21.3 acres Branford acres, Madison acres Milford acres Orange acres 8.0 acres Milford acres North Haven acres acres Hamden acres Hamden acres 70.4 acres West Haven acres acres acres acres Madison acres Milford acres 19.6 acres Milford...4 acres Milford acres New Haven acres acres Orange acres 56.9 acres Milford acres acres Guilford acres Madison acres Madison acres 79.0 acres Woodbridge acres Milford acres 66.5 acres Woodbridge.66.5 acres Writer: JP Huwiler Photographer: Harold Shapiro except aerials on page 4 by Virginia Welch Designer: Paul Kazmercyk