Haverhill City Councilor Daniel R. Diodati took the city’s legislative delegation to task Tuesday for failing to help Haverhill solve its expensive and ongoing water distribution and sewer pipe maintenance issues.
Diodati, who represents Ward 2, spoke Tuesday following a discussion of impending and more severe water use restrictions and a range of other options to respond to drought conditions. Diodati said he believes the city is lucky a new well under the Merrimack River is projected to come on line relatively soon.
“We really are in this together and we’re just trying to get through. We’re two years from having a viable water source. I was disappointed tonight to hear we’re going to have to pay another city for our water. I am also a little bit frustrated thinking that our state legislative delegation really hasn’t done much to fast track any of this or do anything for us,” Diodati said.
Noting that both water and wastewater piping have required replacement for decades, Diodati told WHAV after the meeting he intends to invite every member of the federal and state legislative delegation to attend the next meeting of the Council’s Planning and Development Committee, of which he is a member. The subcommittee is scheduled to meet next sometime next month.
Diodati said he plans to press legislators for federal and state money to solve not just the water source issue but city sewer issues as well. He said because Haverhill is among the poorer cities in the Commonwealth, he thinks the city deserves consideration because many residents simply cannot afford to underwrite the cost of repairs through water and sewer bills.
The city imposed emergency water restrictions in March after winter precipitation failed to recharge Kenoza Lake, the city’s main reservoir. Because the lake is now at its lowest level in 30 years, Public Works Director Robert E. Ward told councilors he is planning a total ban on outdoor water use, with the exception of vegetable gardens and some business exemptions, as soon as Thursday, Sept. 17. Ward added his department is arranging for the purchase of one million gallons of water per day from the city of Methuen.
The Methuen purchase, however, is at least two months off, Ward said, because Methuen uses a different treatment chemical than Haverhill. That means Methuen water cannot simply be pumped into Haverhill’s system because it would damage Haverhill’s underground pipes.
That prompted Amesbury Road resident Michael Jacobs to challenge the city’s water restrictions. Jacobs said he objects to being asked to turn off the tap when he brushes his teeth and to stop watering his lawn, while at the same time the city used water to hose down dust when the fire-damaged Stevens Street mill was demolished in June. He called it an “us vs. them” situation with residents on one side and the city on the other.
Ward 1 Councilor Ralph T. Basiliere pointed out the city was required by the state Department of Environmental Protection to use misted water as a dust reduction because the site was contaminated with a high level of cancer-causing asbestos.