Rural water commission begins work
The Special Legislative Commission to Study
and Provide Recommendations on the Water Supply Planning for New Housing
Developments in Rural Communities meets Wednesday for presentations by experts
from the University of Rhode Island as well as representatives of the state
Water Resources Board and the Charlestown Climate Resiliency Commission.
Rep. Megan Cotter chairs commission
created by her legislation
The commission is scheduled
to meet Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. in Room 101 on the first floor of the
State House. No public testimony will be taken at this meeting.
The meeting will include presentations from Sarah Racine of
Charlestown Climate Resiliency Commission; commission member and Water
Resources Board Acting Staff Director Hector Barreras and URI geosciences
professor Brian Savage; as well as commission member and URI professor of
water resources and water quality Soni Pradhanang with URI Geoscience
Department Chairman Thomas Boving.
The meeting will be televised by Capitol Television, which
can be seen by Spectrum subscribers on channels 15 and 61 for high definition,
on channel 15 by i3Broadband viewers, and channel 34 for Verizon subscribers.
Livestreaming will be available at https://www.rilegislature.gov/CapTV/Pages/default.aspx.
The commission is led by Rep. Megan L. Cotter (D-Dist. 39,
Exeter, Richmond, Hopkinton), who sponsored the legislation (2026-H
8032Aaa) establishing it to ensure groundwater capacity is considered as
part of the planning process as Rhode Island works to address its housing
crisis.
The commission is to study and provide recommendations for evaluating, planning for, and limiting the impacts of new housing development on the safety, quality, and capacities of public water supplies and watersheds in rural communities. It is to report its findings and recommendations to the House of Representatives by June 15, 2027.
Besides Representative Cotter, Barreras and Pradhanang, the
commission’s members include Rep. Michelle McGaw (D-Dist. 71, Portsmouth,
Tiverton, Little Compton), House Minority Leader Michael W. Chippendale
(R-Dist. 40, Foster, Glocester, Coventry), Rhode Island League of Cities and
Towns Associate Director Charles Donovan Jr., Providence Water Executive
Engineer Gregg Giasson, Department of Environmental Management Office of Water
Resources Administrator Susan Kiernan, North Tiverton Fire District General Manager
Robert Ouellette Jr., Department of Health Center for Drinking Water Quality
Chief Administrator Amy B. Parmenter, and Rhode Island Housing Director of
Government Relations and Policy Amy Rainone.
