Veolia says drought and low aquifer levels prompted sudden Narragansett water restrictions; council presses for better notice

Veolia’s operations director told the Narragansett Town Council on July 6 that the utility imposed an outdoor water restriction because multi-year aquifer deficits and a recent state drought warning raised local demand to unsustainable levels.

“We are facing a really major drought,” Chris Jacobs, Veolia’s director of operations, said. He described the company’s source as the Meek Brook well fields (part of the broader Chepuxet aquifer system), said daily winter pumping is roughly 2.3 million gallons and surged to around 5 million gallons per day over the holiday weekend, and listed measures Veolia has taken to build resilience, including tank replacements and exploring new sources. “We are looking to get more resilient,” Jacobs said.

Council members and residents pushed back on the timing and method of the notice. “I had to read about the communication on a sign that was posted on a telephone pole while I was driving in town,” the council president said, pressing Veolia to coordinate earlier with town staff and to avoid last-minute public confusion.

Veolia said it maintains formal points of contact with both towns it serves and that emergency notices are issued at short notice when data and forecasts justify them. “We keep the both towns in the loop,” Jacobs said, adding the company posts updates on its website, issues postcards to direct customers, and can provide reverse-notify alerts. Town Manager Jim Tierney said the town posted the notice on social media, the municipal website and pushed Everbridge messages to more than 11,000 registered users after Veolia issued its alert.

Councilors asked for follow-ups on technical and operational options raised at the meeting. Jacobs said Veolia is pursuing an emergency interconnect with neighboring systems as a contingency, but that would be “strictly an emergency connection” rather than a wholesale supply contract. He also noted practical limits on adding storage capacity because of water-age and disinfectant-byproduct concerns.

Why it matters: The restriction affected residents’ summer routines and sparked criticism about communication and enforcement at a moment of heightened demand. Councilors urged Veolia and town staff to improve advance notice to elected officials and residents and to return with a joint plan describing notification protocols, interconnect options and timelines for longer-term source improvements.

The council did not vote on policy steps at the meeting; the town manager and Veolia agreed to work on communication improvements and on next steps for resilience planning.