Water Improvement Committee Update

Chester Water Improvement Committee (CWIC) Update – January 4, 2021

Led by Dr. Rich Gullick of Water Compliance Solutions (WCS), has developed a strategic plan to recommend to the BOS/Water Commissioners, for their approval Feb 8th. The plan focus is on short & long term goals, leading to improved water quality and specifically will address:

• DEP non-compliance issues, seeking relief thru re classification of the water plant & collection of data, on which to make evidence based decisions.
• Inclusion in a UMASS-Amherst study of water systems, has identified possible new paths forward. Collaborating with PVPC for grants/regionalization research are actively being pursued.
• Three years ago the BOS entered into agreement with federally funded Rural Communities Assistance Partnership (RCAP) which has provided ongoing technical assistance & training.
These initiatives are ongoing.

In the coming months long term sustainability will be a focus…including personnel, training financial stability, maintenance & capital improvement projects.

CWIC member/contributors: Kathy Engwer, Kathe Warden, Dr. Rich Holzman, Tom Bean, James Higby, Rick Stone, Steve Salvini, Eric Weiss – PVPC, Jenna Day & Matt Cassedy (RCAP), Dr. Milman (UMASS), Dr. Rich Gullick (WCS)

– Submitted by Bob Daley