Watering and water use restrictions are currently in effect in Needham, as they have been in recent summers. On May 8, the state issued regulations that limit non-essential water usage in the Southeast Water Region, which includes Needham, extends southward to Fall River and encompasses all of Cape Cod. The state has declared that the Southeast Region is in “Mild Drought.”
According to Amy Haelsen, Needham’s Director of Communications and Community Engagement, non-essential water usage such as sprinklers and automated watering is only allowed on Sundays before 9 a.m. and after 5 p.m. The town’s web site says that handheld watering is allowed at any time. Individuals may apply for an exemption for needs like growing food and filling swimming pools.
After a spring with many days of rain, Stephanie Cooper, undersecretary for Environment at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, understands why many people are miffed by the recently reissued water-use restrictions. But, she says, it’s a longer-term issue. “We have been in a drought since 2024, so that kind of extended period of drier than normal conditions reduces our water availability,” she said. Haelsen said, “Believe it or not, precipitation in Eastern Mass. is in a deficit of 6-7 inches since January 1.”
Whether weather matters
The state has a sometimes head-scratching approach to water usage limits that only makes sense if one recognizes that many communities in the eastern part of the state get their water from central Massachusetts. For towns and cities with significant local water sources — like Needham — local rain and snowfall correlates with water supply and drought means restrictions. But for municipalities which transport water, largely through the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority system, the rules are different.
Water authorities have divided eastern Massachusetts into water regions. Needham is situated on the northern edge of the Southeast Region, an area the state has deemed to be in mild drought. A stone’s throw away, in Newton, which is in the Northeast region, the state has declared a level-three critical drought.
So Newton has more severe water restrictions, right? Actually, no. Northeast region communities that supply their own water have restrictions: there is a ban on all non-essential water use and the municipalities are required to “Enforce water use restrictions with increasingly stringent penalties.” But there are no water restrictions in Newton because our neighbors on the other side of the Charles quaff no local water — their supply is from the MWRA. Because the Quabbin Reservoir is at 84% capacity and monitored daily, towns that are fully reliant on MWRA water currently have no restrictions.
Haelsen said that, similar to the drought declaration last year, Needham is not issuing fines. “The focus will be to educate and inform residents and property owners of the current restrictions so they are in compliance,” she said.
Needham is a pipe-in hybrid
The Quabbin Reservoir, which put four central Massachusetts towns underwater, was created in 1939. Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott were disincorporated and demolished to create the Quabbin and create a massive water supply for the Greater Boston area. Needham tapped into the system in the 1950s.
For most of the year, Needham relies on its own underground aquifer for high-quality and abundant water. A 1937 Boston Globe article described the 93-foot shaft that reached this ancient deposit of water, “This well is considered to be one of the most remarkable in the world in that its supply of water is apparently inexhaustible.”
According to Haelsen, Needham opens its MWRA spigot, located at the corner of St. Mary Street and Central Avenue, between May and October when water demand is the highest. The town is licensed to consume 2.63 million gallons a day.
Town lost suit to change water authority
Despite Needham’s hybrid system, the town remains subject to the state restrictions. In 2023, Needham joined a lawsuit with 18 other towns and cities in an attempt to wrest some water authority from the state, challenging the broad sweep of state water regulations based on legislation passed in the 1980s.
Springfield Water and Sewer Commission & others vs Department of Environmental Protection wound its way through the court system and on July 31, 2025, the appeals court issued a decision that was a resounding defeat for Needham and the other municipalities.
The Charles River Watershed Association, which supported the state in this lawsuit, issued a press release that called the decision a victory for common sense. “Inherent inequity would result if some water users were allowed to continue using as much water as they wanted for non-essential purposes during droughts while others were forced to conserve,” it said.
The appellate court’s decision eliminated the inequity within regions, but did not address the inequity the state allows between bordering towns like Needham and Newton that is based on MWRA water usage.
Wetter days ahead?
Cooper, who is responsible for all Massachusetts towns and cities, had no knowledge of Needham’s well-endowed aquifer, water that came from the ancient Merrimack River. She said that the regional restrictions were meant to avert more stringent measures later in the summer.
“We’re headed to the hottest time of the year. That’s why we’re asking folks to help conserve water,” Cooper said. “It’s a long term strategy to make sure that the water supply is viable.”
Haelsen said the state’s Drought Management Task Force will meet again on June 8 when it might revise the restrictions.
Save as PDF