Truro and Provincetown approve further joint water planning after presentation on supply gap and options

Truro and Provincetown select boards met in a joint session on Sept. 30, 2024, to review a presentation from town staff and the Joint Water Resource working group that concluded the local water system lacks redundancy for peak summer demand and would need roughly 720,000 gallons per day of additional redundant supply to meet both towns’ projected growth.

Cody Salsbury, Provincetown water superintendent, summarized system history, source safe yields and treatment capacity and said the system can meet average demand but not sustained peak demand if a primary source goes offline. “As we move forward…we need additional supply to support both communities’ growth,” Salsbury told both boards. He cited safe‑yield figures for existing sources and a Water Management Act annual‑average withdrawal permit of 850,000 gallons per day.

The presentation described three primary source areas (Paul Daily, NES Crossing and North Union), two treatment facilities and roughly 4,097 metered accounts. Staff outlined next steps: targeted modeling, a peer review, updates to the water system master plan and watershed management plan, and an alternative‑analysis to evaluate options such as siting new groundwater wells, reactivating Air Force Base wells, or longer‑term regional solutions. Staff said an initial modeling task could cost roughly $20,000, the alternative analysis $250,000–$350,000, and the planning work roughly $350,000–$400,000.

Town managers and selectboard members pressed staff on specific questions, including whether an elevated storage tank would increase pumping capacity (staff: it would improve fire flow and pressure but would not add pumping capacity), whether the Walsh housing project was included in Truro’s demand forecast (staff said the Walsh project was included in Truro’s forecast), and what would be required to use the North Truro Air Force Base wells routinely rather than only for emergency use.

Provincetown Town Manager Alex Morris cautioned that without additional capacity, certain pipeline projects could not be built at full scale. “If we didn’t explore or build future capacity, we wouldn’t have enough gallons to support the entire development at the Walsh property,” Morris said, noting staff and both towns will need to coordinate allocations and possibly stage development.

On the North Truro Air Force Base (AFB) wells, staff said wells 4 and 5 have not been placed into the distribution system in about 11 years but are maintained and periodically tested; they are permitted for roughly 334,000 gpd and would require further modeling, permitting and discussion with the Cape Cod National Seashore for expanded routine use. Staff cautioned that federal land and park‑service concerns about “mining” groundwater are a substantive constraint.

Board members also asked about desalination as a long‑term option. Staff said desalination is technically possible but faces steep regulatory and brine‑disposal hurdles, heavy engineering needs and long permitting timelines, so it remains a distant—not near‑term—option.

Members of the public urged that planning explicitly consider climate risks (drought, sea‑level rise and storm saltwater intrusion) and the effect of new public wells on private wells. Joan Holt, a commenter, told the boards that climate impacts “need to be included very consciously and explicitly” in any plan.

Staff reported they had filed a One‑Stop Grant application for roughly $350,000 to $400,000 to fund updates to the master plan and watershed plan; if awarded, the working group would ask the select boards to accept the grant and to consider joint appropriations or placeholders at town meeting if grants fall through.

After discussion and public comment, both select boards voted by roll call to approve continuing the process as outlined, incorporating the questions and public input raised that evening, and to schedule a follow‑up joint meeting in late February 2025. The motions passed unanimously. Jennifer Nower, the meeting facilitator, said she would share the captured notes and questions with staff and the working group; staff committed to posting updates on the joint resource webpages and to monthly updates to the Water & Sewer boards.

The working group will next pursue the modeling and peer‑review steps, seek grant decisions on the One‑Stop application, and return to the boards with detailed alternatives, costs and a clearer allocation approach for town projects such as Walsh.