Cities and towns all over eastern Massachusetts are bellying up to the bar for water from the Quabbin Reservoir. First, though, a fresh look at regional equity is needed — before new spigots are turned on.
The eight small towns surrounding the 39-square-mile, manmade lake need to be better recompensed for the work of stewarding drinking water for much of the Boston metropolitan area. And they need a share of the water that for nearly 100 years has been mostly piped east.
Two western Massachusetts state legislators are pushing legislation that would tax the 3.1 million users of Quabbin water and explore the feasibility of providing drinking water to more cities and towns in western Massachusetts, including those towns that comprise the 181 miles of Quabbin Reservoir shoreline.
