Lawn Watering Threatening Massachusetts Trout

June 8, 2009 By: Marshall Cutchin

OK, I can understand teenage girls taking one-hour showers, but doing laundry?
Residential water use that in some areas exceeds 100 per person per day is drying up Massachusetts rivers, according to an extensive article by Beth Daley in yesterday’s Boston Globe. Apparently some folks in Massachusetts think that this much water use is warranted given the cultural imperative to stay absolutely clean. “‘I can understand limiting water in a stressed basin, but we aren’t in one,’ said Don Rugg of Sarian Company Inc., which manages the water supply for Plymouth Water Company. ‘Sixty-five gallons a day doesn’t cut the mustard, not if you have a family of four, laundry, car washing, and teenage girls that can take a shower for an hour.'”