Bills aim to keep state’s water supply flowing

Heavy rains during the last month are expected to prompt the state to drop its drought watch this week.

Water levels in the Scituate Reservoir, along with other local reservoirs, have risen above the rated capacity.

And at the Old Forge Road Dam, on the East Greenwich-North Kingstown line, on the Hunt River — ground zero to those concerned about the state’s drinking water supplies — the water flows so heavily it roars and fills the river with white froth.

By all outward appearances, Rhode Island’s drinking water supplies are in good shape.

But those more familiar with how the state stores and delivers drinking water know that is not so.

This year, they seem optimistic that following more than two years of studies, reports and hearings, the General Assembly will pass legislation designed to increase supplies, to reduce summertime consumption and to protect rivers and streams from being pumped empty during dry periods.

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