Buzzards Bay Coalition Supports CPC Article
As part of a five-town initiative to provide long-term protection and resilience to a shared drinking water resource, Fairhaven Town Meeting members are being asked to vote “Yes” on Article 12E on Saturday, May 6th. If passed, the article would approve the town allocating $85,000 from its Community Preservation Fund to help protect more than 200 acres in the Mattapoisett River Valley, land that encompasses the underlying groundwater aquifer that supplies drinking water to Fairhaven and surrounding towns.
Community Preservation Funds must be allocated annually for the purpose of open space protection. In addition to the Fairhaven vote, the towns of Acushnet, Marion, and Mattapoisett will also be considering similar articles at their upcoming town meetings. Rochester has already approved its allocation to the project. Each municipality’s contribution would represent less than 1.5-percent of the total project cost. These relatively modest contributions from each local town will leverage a $4.5 million state grant approved by the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program.
The towns, together with the Mattapoisett River Valley Water District and Advisory Committee, have been working together for decades to protect key lands over the public drinking water supply in the Mattapoisett River Valley. A variety of municipal plans, including Community Preservation Plans, Municipal Vulnerability Preparation Plans, Open Space and Recreation Plans, and Master Plans have called for the protection of this specific parcel.
Public access for outdoor recreation will be allowed on all of the lands, and trails will be expanded from the existing trail system within the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Mattapoisett River Reserve to connect to this area. The Town of Mattapoisett Water Department will own 103 acres of the project area, the Buzzards Bay Coalition 137 acres, all protected through permanent conservation restrictions.
According to Brendan Annett, Vice President for Watershed Protection at the Buzzards Bay Coalition, “Each of these towns has partnered with the Coalition in the past to implement land conservation projects, and this model of multiple towns working collaboratively to protect large pieces of land has proven successful on numerous occasions. We’re proud to be able to help secure this multi-town water resource for future generations.”
In addition to ensuring a clean public drinking water supply, this project will also provide resilience to drought and flooding events associated with climate change by protecting natural wetlands, fields, and forests. It is also a key component of a larger regional effort to protect hundreds of acres of contiguous open space and supports the scenic beauty and character of the rural part of this region.
More information on the project may be found at tinyurl.com/ cleandrinkingwatermrv.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition, https://www.savebuzzardsbay.org
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