Beyond Taste and Odor, Our Water Infrastructure Itself is at Risk

Mar 26, 2026

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The Townie is an opinion website. The views expressed in this piece belong solely to the author, do not represent those held by The Townie, and should not be interpreted as objective or reported fact.

Everyone is talking about the horrible taste, odor and appearance of our water and unfortunately these are the least of our concerns with our drinking water. Our water infrastructure is very much at risk and it’s imperative that residents start paying attention because the solutions are very complicated, expensive, and the fixes will not be implemented for years to come. It will cost well over $100M, and you and I are going to pay for it.

I am a recently retired City Councillor and during my tenure I served as the Chair of the “Ad Hoc Committee on Water Projects Prioritization,” which was developed by the Council to try to understand the risks to our water infrastructure and find solutions. Until this committee was formed, there had not been a discussion between the Council and the administration about the risks to our water infrastructure. The committee included our qualified and hardworking city staff, councillors, and volunteer board members. The findings of that committee can be found in the final report here, and I strongly urge residents to read it to better understand the risks to our water and improvements that need to be done. Importantly, only the mayor and his administration are responsible for the operations of the city. Therefore, the committee made recommendations but only the mayor can implement them.

Those recommendations were as follows: “The committee strongly urges the Administration in consultation with the Water and Sewer Commission, to advance the high priority projects to full design….Those projects are (non-ranked order): Upper Artichoke Reservoir Raw Water Line, Indian Hill Raw Water Line, Lower Artichoke Reservoir Dam Improvements, Water Supply Protection & Watershed Master Plan and New Water Treatment Facility.” The reason that the committee felt strongly about advancing the design of ALL of these projects is because timelines, permitting challenges, and costs of the various projects, can’t be fully known until the projects are fully designed. If you are building a house, you can’t possibly know how long it will take and how much it will cost until you have fully designed it.

Clearly, the mayor and his administration found the work of this committee to be of value since they have publicly stated that they have chosen to advance both the development of a new water treatment facility and improvements to the dam at the Lower Artichoke Reservoir. I am delighted that these projects will move forward, but importantly, neither of these projects were on the administration’s 5-year outlook (FY26 Capital Improvement Program (CIP)) until after the work of our committee. However, the administration has chosen to single out these two projects and to not advance the design of the other high priority projects. The administration made these decisions in a way that is not transparent to the public, and without any clarity on why they are not advancing the design of the other high priority projects. Residents and taxpayers have a right to know how and why these decisions were made.

These water projects are complicated and will put a significant financial strain on the city. Therefore, the committee strongly recommended that the current Council develop another committee “to continue to track the progress of these projects and adjust the priorities based on new information. It is important that the prioritization of the projects be discussed publicly so that the Council and residents are aware of any changes.”

However, the mayor has already publicly stated that he does not want another committee to be formed, but instead will “provide quarterly updates to the Water & Sewer Commission and the City Council to keep them apprised of progress and new information.” In other words, he wants to develop his plan in isolation and not have input from our elected representatives and residents. These projects will have an enormous impact on the city for many years to come, and it is imperative that it be done right, with as much scrutiny as possible, and in a way that is transparent to taxpayers.

Our drinking water is very much at risk. I strongly urge residents to pay attention, and reach out to members of the Council at CityCouncil@newburyportma.gov to encourage them to vote to create another committee. This will ensure that the Council and residents can feel confident that the best decisions are being made to provide residents with reliable and safe drinking water.

Connie Preston
Newburyport resident
Former City Councilor At-large

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Comments

2 responses to “Beyond Taste and Odor, Our Water Infrastructure Itself is at Risk”

Walt Thompson

March 26, 2026

Dear city councilors,

May I wager $49 with you?

My wager is that there will be zero solutions backed action by a majority of city councilors re the last 4 paragraphs of Richard Banks’ LTE in yesterday’s DN by May 1, 2026. Attached below.

Please let me know by this time next Tuesday March 31. 2026 if you will take my wager or not.

2+ months in and I am observing electeds performing without solutions.
It’s as if their goal is to prolong not resolve…to keep a job rather than take stands and be public servants…to extend and drift without focusing on solutions.

To me, it seems exercises in performative self-gratification are the rule not the exception.
Lots of hamster wheel motions but Richard’s suggestions will be, it seems, whisked away.

Thank you

Best

Walt Thompson
Newburyport

Letters
Water quality? So what
To the editor:

In a recent Daily News story (“Reardon addresses water quality on local radio,” March 17, 2026) Mayor Reardon had a very cavalier attitude in his response to Newburyport’s water quality.

“I’ve lived here for 50 years and it’s hard for me because I’ve just never been someone to get worked up over the water here.” “We talked about the taste and the smell, and it’s never bothered me.”

Reading this was irritating. Almost as much as the water is. Almost.

Yet, Mayor Reardon went “full steam ahead” on the issue of a recreation center being needed in Newburyport. Something that affects fewer residents then the water issue, which affects 100% of the residents and visitors.

I’m not criticizing the need of the recreation center. We haven’t had a rec. center since the YMCA burnt down 40 years ago. I am criticizing the cavalier attitude toward the water issues and the level of concern toward the residents that complain about them.

It’s hard to understand how the mayor can put so much focus, concern, effort and time on something that has little effect on the major population of the city and little, if any, of these same energies toward an issue that affects 100% of the population and its visitors. Issues that affect the health and well-being of all within our precious city.

If you’ve reviewed the past five-plus years of the water reports that have been issued showing the levels of components in our water supply, you would have noticed that the levels are either at or just below acceptable levels.

That should be a red flag to anyone familiar with such reports because of the many variables that can affect those levels. Just being that close to the acceptable levels, how often do they go above the levels?

Water and its quality is a major factor for the health and well-being of all that consume it. It is the major essential for life itself. Without it, we cannot exist. It has a total impact on our well-being and ability to function effectively in this life. Such an essential component of life deserves more than a “cavalier attitude” from someone elected to oversee the welfare of the residents of Newburyport.

We need the City Council to appropriate funds for a qualified independent company to review our present water supply system. Having them test our water quality periodically during their reviewing period, inspect and review our present water suppling system and create a detailed report of their findings along with recommendations on how to make improvements.

This report should be released to the council and the mayor at the same time, at a council open public meeting. No version should be released before that meeting. The exact same report should be fully released to the public the next day unedited.

This requirement/clause should be listed in the contract agreement, preventing the contractor from releasing it otherwise. Violating this requirement/clause should result in substantial fines and penalties against those who have violated it.

Why so many restrictions? First, the cavalier attitude of the mayor and the possibility of other elected officials feeling the same way. Second, this issue is too important for anything less since it affects the health and well-being of every resident and visitor to this city and the quality of life within our precious city. We need to guaranty full transparency.

Richard Banks Newburyport

Reply
Richard K. Lodge

March 26, 2026

Former at-large councilor Preston continues her strong advocacy for Newburyport residents understand and take serioiusly how at risk our water system is and how important it is for Mayor Reardon and the entire City Council to get on board by supporting a new committee to advocate for and guide work toward a new water treatment plant. This work should not be done within the mayor’s office. As Ms. Preston noted, the advisory committee she chaired about our water system wrote, “It is important that the prioritization of the projects be discussed publicly so that the Council and residents are aware of any changes.”

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Beyond Taste and Odor, Our Water Infrastructure Itself is at Risk

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2 responses to “Beyond Taste and Odor, Our Water Infrastructure Itself is at Risk”

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