Dear Editor:

Knickerbocker Lake is in crisis, down over 40 inches since May.

Yes, our region is in a drought—dry weather affects everyone—but that reality makes the Boothbay Region Water District’s (BRWD) current management strategy even more alarming. Meeting records reveal a troubling lack of forward-thinking strategy regarding our peninsula’s long-term water supply. As summer temperatures rise, the BRWD Board of Trustees appears stuck in a passive loop, while our local Board of Selectmen has offered little public oversight as these decisions unfold.

Nowhere is this administrative inertia more obvious than in the unequal treatment of our water sources. Adams Pond is consistently prioritized and kept full, while Knickerbocker Lake bears an unsustainable burden. Knickerbocker is treated like an afterthought—drawn down heavily during peak demand in spite of a state drawdown permit meant to protect it during dry spells. Draining one reservoir while shielding the other is a dangerous gamble in a warming climate. Where are the Selectmen, who share responsibility for watershed protection and community growth, in calling out the BRWD Trustees on this imbalance?

Instead of developing real solutions, administrative focus remains fixated on land acquisition and extending seasonal water mains. Buying parcel buffers is fine, but it misses the core question: where is all this additional water actually coming from?

Meanwhile, leadership continues to lean on the proposed "5 Rivers" regional pipeline as a cure-all. Tying our future to a multi-town pipe assumes an influx of federal grant money that simply does not exist. Worse, 5 Rivers requires neighboring towns to buy in financially—expecting regional partners to subsidize a costly system just so Boothbay can solve its localized capacity problem. Chasing an unfunded pipe dream is not a strategy; it is a distraction.

With longer, drier summers becoming our baseline, why aren't local options being actively pursued? Investigating new groundwater assets might be a long shot, but it is an option we must explore. Modern catalytic filtration can now readily treat the iron fouling in our offline East Boothbay wells. Furthermore, controlling drainage at Knickerbocker’s outlet would protectively retain seasonal surface water longer.

Droughts are natural, but poor planning is not. Over-pumping Knickerbocker Lake while waiting for an unfunded pipeline risks permanent ecological degradation. It is time for both our Selectmen and BRWD Trustees to bring real imagination to the table and demand a resilient plan for our local water.

Andy Cozzi

Boothbay