🚨 Action Alert: Massachusetts is Ready for Drought Management!

Massachusetts Rivers Alliance and our 85+ member groups across the state have asked the Massachusetts legislature to modernize drought management and help secure our water future. 

Massachusetts is seen as a “water rich” state, but these water resources are not infinite. As state leaders consider how to meet demands for clean drinking water amidst housing expansion, infrastructure revitalization, and contamination/pollution, more frequent and intense droughts pose an additional threat to the natural environment, humans, and our economy. 

Fortunately, the actions we take today can help us save our water for tomorrow. Now is a moment you can help by sending two quick emails before Wednesday. 

On Wednesday, April 15, the Senate will vote to include the drought management bill as an amendment to the environmental bond bill, also known as the “Mass Ready Act.”  This Amendment (#5) will provide a long-overdue coordinated, proactive, clear response to drought that safeguards our environment, public health, and sustainability of our waters. Senator Jamie Eldridge is the leading champion for Amendment# 5. 

In addition, the Senate will consider an amendment that will dedicate funding for a coordinated statewide water needs and supply strategy. This Amendment (#73)  will account for drought, and other changing climate and hydrological conditions to inform water infrastructure projects, housing/ development proposals, and MWRA expansion planning. Mass Rivers had previously expressed the need for such a plan in this Boston Globe Article.  Senator Jo Comerford is the leading champion for Amendment #73. 

Please take 5 minutes today to send two emails asking your state senator to vote in favor of these amendments. 

1. Find your senator

Find your legislators >> 

2. Send them two emails expressing your support for these amendments.

Recommended Subject Line: Support for Amendment #5, for statewide drought preparedness 

Recommended message (copy, paste). And feel free to add any climate impacts that you’ve seen locally, and/or why your local river matters to you: 

Dear Senator,

My name is [Insert Name] and I am your constituent from [town] (Add any affiliations here too). I am writing to urge you to vote in support of Amendment 5 , which will ensure that the environmental bond bill (“Mass Ready Act”) includes measures for statewide drought preparedness. Without this amendment, the Mass Ready Act will include no dedicated protections against drought–an increasingly frequent and intense climate threat that undermines the health of our natural environment, our communities, and our economy. 

Massachusetts' current drought response is a confusing patchwork of conservation measures that continues to put our water supplies, agriculture, and ecosystems at risk. 

Amendment 5 provides a solution: It grants the state the authority to coordinate water savings when our rivers and water supplies need it most. The Amendment would not affect water use for agriculture or business; it would make watering rules consistent and clear for the public; and it would importantly reinforce the state’s housing and water expansion agency by supporting future water access. 

Please prioritize our rivers, waters, and wildlife and vote in support of Amendment 5. 

Thank you, 

Recommended Subject Line: Support for Amendment #73 , for a statewide water supply strategy

Recommended message (copy, paste). And feel free to add any climate impacts that you’ve seen locally, and/or why your local river matters to you: 

Dear Senator,

My name is [Insert Name] and I am your constituent from [town] (Add any affiliations here too). I am writing to urge  you to vote in support of Amendment 73 , which will ensure that the environmental bond bill (“Mass Ready Act”) includes measures for a coordinated statewide water needs and supply strategy. This amendment recognizes the role of the state in helping municipalities secure clean water for residents and investing in long-term water infrastructure projects that reinforce this goal.

While not all communities face the same demands on water, we share a common understanding that we are entitled to clean water.  Yet across the state, our potable water sources are increasingly under stress due to contamination, droughts, and housing expansion.  Multiple demands for new water sources have already been expressed by communities in Western Massachusetts, the North Shore, the South Shore, and the MetroWest area. 

Amendment 73 calls upon the state to take a holistic view of these demands within the context of existing water infrastructure and future hydrological conditions. The Mass Ready Act should provide the state with a comprehensive outlook on where to invest in our future water sources. 

Please vote for Amendment 73 to help realize this water future. 

Sincerely,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

[Your Organization, if applicable]

THANK YOU FOR BEING A RIVER ADVOCATE

Questions?

Contact Mass Rivers' Policy Director, Melissa Shapiro (mshapiro@massriversalliance.org)

Want to advocate further? Consider sending an email expressing support for other “Mass Ready Act” provisions that will protect your rivers and watersheds:

• Support for $500 million for statewide climate resilience projects via the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) grant program.

• Support for Amendment 51, which establishes sustainable water resource funds, often called “water banking. ” See (H.2324/S.1443) (Championed by Senator Jamie Eldridge, supported by Massachusetts Municipal Association).

• Support for healthy wetlands. Read more here.

• Support for increased funding for the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust to protect access to clean water across the Commonwealth, and for PFAS remediation in public and private wells.