Concord Town Meeting Warrant Article 17 requests $50 million debt authorization for “Nagog Pond Improvements and PFAS Mitigation.” This article has three potential impacts for Acton: the possibility that a new water main would be installed under Great Road across the full width of Acton, the possibility that Concord Water Department would no longer serve water to parcels along Great Road, and the possibility that increased water withdrawals would result in less water in Nagog Pond and Nagog Brook.
Although Nagog Pond is located on the border between Acton and Littleton, it has served as a drinking water source for the Town of Concord since the early 1900’s. Water from the pond is processed at a treatment plant adjacent to the Pond, and then transmitted to Concord via a pipe running under Great Road. Beginning in 2012, Concord began to plan to replace the aged ozone disinfection treatment plant by Nagog Pond with a modern filtration plant. Through the 2010’s, Concord fought numerous legal and permitting battles with both Acton and Littleton regarding the treatment plant and water rights to Nagog Pond. Between 2020 and 2023, Concord extended and repaired the intake pipe that carries water from the pond into the treatment plant, but building a new treatment plant on the site next to Nagog Pond did not happen.
Concord’s current plan is to build their Nagog Pond water treatment plant on town-owned land adjacent to the Concord Municipal Light Plant, near the Rt 2 rotary. This larger site will allow the plant to treat for PFAS, and thus meet new Massachusetts and federal water quality regulations that have come into effect since planning for the Nagog Pond treatment plant began.
The warrant states: “The $50,000,000 debt authorization… will provide funding for design, construction and construction engineering services for the following projects: 1) the completion of Nagog intake replacement/rehabilitation, the Nagog Pond water treatment facility, and installation of an associated transmission line along Route 2A…” (Acton-relevant section italicized by the Acton Exchange). The pipe that brings water from Nagog Pond to Concord is quite old and was designed for a smaller flow capacity than Concord is hoping to transmit in the future. For Acton residents, water main replacement along the length of Great Road could bring an extended period of traffic congestion around the work sites.
Nagog Pond water serves not only residents of Concord, but also residential and business parcels along Great Road in Acton between the Concord town line and Brook Street (see map). The treated water coming down from Nagog Pond is piped to these parcels on its way to Concord. If treatment were happening in Concord rather than adjacent to the Pond, the water flowing south along Great Road would be raw water rather than treated water, not suitable for residential or commercial use. The public hearing on Town Meeting Article 17 was held before the Concord Finance Committee on March 19, with the article presented by Alan Cathcart, Concord’s Director of Public Works. The Acton Exchange asked: “Does Concord Water Department intend to continue selling water to its current customers along Great Road in Acton?” Mr. Cathcart replied: “It’s too early to tell what the final outcome will be. The transmission line is part of connecting Nagog to the new site in Concord. We have reached out to Acton. We actually talked to the Town Manager and staff recently, about opportunities, where there might be a way of partnering, where it makes sense. But it is premature for me to say anything more than that.” Public water suppliers are not allowed to unilaterally stop supplying water to existing customers, so there is no possibility that these parcels would be left without potable water. However, via what infrastructure and from which public water supplier that water would arrive remain unknown. Most of Acton is served by the Acton Water District, a municipal entity separate from the Town of Acton government.
The warrant explains, “These investments will be required to maintain the Town’s ability to utilize Nagog Pond as a reliable, high-quality water supply capable of providing the Town of Concord with in excess of 1 million gallons of drinking water per day.” In recent years, Concord has drawn less than 0.5 million gallons of water per day (mgd) from Nagog Pond, and the US Geological Survey estimates the safe yield for Nagog Pond as 0.86 mgd. At the public hearing, the Acton Exchange asked for clarification of the prediction that the proposed work would supply 1 million gallons of water per day, noting that the safe yield is lower than that. Mr. Cathcart replied: “It will give us a lot of flexibility, up to 1.5 million gallons per day, and as low as half a million gallons a day on average; that’s sort of how we’re looking at it.” There has been concern expressed by Acton residents over the years about potential detrimental effects of increasing the water draw from Nagog Pond on the aesthetic value of the Pond and on the health of the aquatic ecosystems of the Pond and Nagog Brook.
After discussion, the Concord Finance Committee voted unanimously to recommend Article 17. Concord Town Meeting begins on Monday, April 29.
Kim Kastens is a volunteer writer, editor, and Board member for the Acton Exchange. She also chairs the Water Committee for Green Acton.
UPDATE: On April 29, Concord Town Meeting passed Warrant Article 17. There were no votes cast in opposition. The article was presented by Sven Weber of the Public Works Commission. The presented Spending Plan included $2.0 M for “Rt 2A Water Main Work.” Video of the April 29 meeting is available from MinuteMan TV.
