Fall River, Massachusetts: Source Water Protection

• Author: Rebecca L. Kihslinger/James M. Mcelfish Jr.
• Pages: 169-182

chapter ten

Fall River, Massachusetts:

Source Water Protection

Fall River is a 34-square mile older industrial city in southeastern Massachu-

setts with a population in excess of 90,000. It draws its drinking water from

the North Watuppa Pond and from the Copicut Reservoir to the east, the water-

shed of which is located partly within Fall River and partly within the

neighboring towns of Freetown and Dartmouth. In the 19th century, the city

began to acquire watershed lands in order to protect its drinking water supply,

accumulating more than 3,300 acres of watershed lands by 1925, and addi-

tional lands for the Copicut Reservoir (created in 1970) later on. In 1988, the

Fall River Water Department issued a development/service moratorium for the

area east of North Watuppa Pond (between the pond and the Copicut) while

studying the watershed.1The study led to adoption of watershed protection dis-

trict zoning in this area. Some private homes are located on inholdings in both

water supply areas, and there was development potential for some additional

lands.2The city of Fall River ultimately owned and managed for water supply

purposes approximately 7,000 acres of lands and surface waters.3

For more than 20 years, beginning in the 1930s, the commonwealth of Mass-

achusetts also acquired lands in the vicinity to create the nearly 5,500-acre

Freetown/Fall River State Forest.4In 1965,the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

established a wildlife management area within the forest and in 1989 and 1990

purchased additional lands for the Acushnet Wildlife Management Area. Thou-

sands of additional acres of forest land in the Copicut and North Watuppa

watersheds were owned by the Acushnet Saw Mills,and the company’s owner,

the Hawes family.5

In 1996, Congress adopted amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act

(SDWA), which, after required U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

action, directed states to develop and implement over the beginning years of

the 21st century programs to assess the condition of watershed lands that pro-

vide “source water” for public drinking water supplies.6Water supply issues

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