Annual Report 2004

Shared Needs | Regional Solutions

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In the mid-1970s, citizens in more than a dozen towns in our region were confronted with a crisis. The New Haven Water Company, seeking money for capital improvements, was going to sell off thousands of acres of open space land it owned in municipalities to pay for water treatment upgrades to meet the new requirements of the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Facing transition, the communities in the region pulled together because of a shared philosophy that preservation of land and providing high-quality water are equally important and not mutually exclusive. They sponsored legislation that would establish a regional water district. In 1977, the Connecticut General Assembly protected the interest of people in greater New Haven, by passing legislation that created the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the transition from the New Haven Water Company, a private utility, to the Authority, a non-profit political subdivision of the State of Connecticut. Our mission is to provide an adequate supply of clean drinking water and to advance conservation and recreational use of our land. On average, we provide 55 million gallons of water a day to 400,000 consumers. We have protected more than 24,000 acres of land. We have opened over 50 miles of trails for recreation and 17 miles of streams, rivers and lake shorelines for fishing. We are vigilant about watershed protection by purchasing additional acres of open space lands within the watershed of our reservoirs as opportunities arise. Acquiring the land strengthens our multi-barrier approach to producing high-quality drinking water to our consumers and also ensures that the land will remain as open space.

During our 25 years as an Authority, we have consistently shown that regional solutions can meet shared needs. HazWaste Central, now in its 15th year, is a regional approach to the disposal of household hazardous waste. The facility operates in partnership with the South Central Regional Council of Governments. It is free and open to residents in our district who want to get rid of paint, fertilizers, batteries and other hazardous waste that, if left in the environment, would harm water quality.

Our Whitney Water Center programs provide hands-on educational experiences for about 10,000 school children annually from all 16 towns in our region. Lessons learned at the Center meet today’s science needs and hopefully instill life-long lessons in each child about protecting water sources from pollutants.

As the region’s public water supplier, it is important that we continue to not only maintain but also make improvements to the system. We have some facilities and equipment that date back to the 1800s when the New Haven Water Company was founded. Last year, we spent $40 million on capital infrastructure improvement projects, including the installation of over 30,000 feet of pipe. Six years ago, we embarked on a project to rebuild one of our oldest treatment facilities to ensure that there would be an ample supply to meet our region’s water needs for the next 50 years.

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