Environmental Agency Proposes New Rules For Water Use

Connecticut’s environmental agency announced this week it has revised its proposal for new regulations that govern the diversion of water for public use from streams and rivers. As WNPR’s Nancy Cohen reports the goal is to make sure there’s enough water for fish – and people.

It’s complicated. People need water for all kinds of things. Like the most basic: drinking water. We also use it to put out fires, water our crops and wash our cars. But in Connecticut dozens of rivers suffer from chronic low flows every summer, in part due to the diversion of water for public use. That can make it tougher for fish and other aquatic life to survive.

The Department of Environmental Protection proposed a change in stream flow regulations last fall and received more than 400 comments from the public. The water companies were concerned about the cost of upgrading their infrastructure. Betsy Wingfield of the D.E.P. says now the agency has reduced the complexity of the regulation and in doing that reduced the cost of complying.

“What we’ve tried to do is build in flexibility and additional time and simplify the regulation where we can. So we still ended up with enough water in stream for the fish, but at the same time meeting society’s needs and allowing Connecticut’s economy to continue to grow.”

The new regulations double the time frame for water companies to comply. But some river advocates are concerned this is too much time and in the interim aquatic life would not be adequately protected. The D.E.P. intends to send the new regulations to the General Assembly’s Regulations Review committee by early next month.

For WNPR, I’m Nancy Cohen.