WESTFIELD–The city has decided to officially shut down the Granville reservoir this morning.
The Department of Public Works made the decision after water levels at the reservoir continued to recede through the drought that has plagued the entire state. It was incorrectly reported more than a week ago that the reservoir was offline but the decision has now been made official.
“As of today we are more than 12.5 feet below spillway level,” Westfield system engineer Heather Miller said on Monday. “To put that in perspective, during November of last year we were about 5.5 feet below, so the reservoir level is significantly lower than it is in a typical year.”
A current look at the Granville reservoir. The shore is expanded and clearly visible, showing obvious drought conditions.
The reservoir is currently showing significant portions of shoreline, which is a telltale sign of low water levels. The reservoir isn‘t so dry that it couldn‘t provide water, but quality goes down as the water level does, and the aim is to protect what water is left for later usage.
This is the second time in three years that the reservoir has been shut off. Two years ago, the reservoir was off to allow maintenance and construction work to be done on the water system.
During that time, the city had been able to supply adequate water for nearly a year and a half through their various water wells, using no reservoir water at all. City officials are confident that Westfield will be able to do that again during this shutdown.
“At one point the plant was shut down for two years, but our intention is not to have it shut down next summer,” Miller said about the length of suspension of operations.
A view of the Granville reservoir when filled.
“Hopefully, if we get some recharge over the winter and we get it up to normal or closer to normal levels then we can bring the plant back online,” she said.
Miller said that by springtime over the past few years, the city has had the reservoir above the spillway. This would be the level officials hope to have the reservoir at when they turn its systems back on.
However, the weather models may not be kind to Westfield and many others facing drought conditions across Massachusetts.
“Essentially, through April of 2017, we have what they consider equal chances for above or below average precipitation,” WWLP meteorologist Brian Lapis said. “So, in short there are no macro-scale, big picture weather forecasts of us being dry or us being very wet.
“Right now, it looks like things are going to be staying the same in our drought situations,” Lapis said. “It took us about a year and a half to get into the drought and it might take us about a year and a half to get out.”
Lapis was sure to clarify though, that the drought western Massachusetts faces is not as severe as California or even what the eastern part of Massachusetts is facing.
City officials will be continuing to monitor the reservoir levels, in addition to keeping residents apprised of any additional information. Most updates can be found on the City of Westfield website.
