Wanaque Asks Ringwood for Regular Water Supply

November 9, 2004

Wanaque Borough Administrator Tom Carroll appeared before the Ringwood Borough for a second time to ask the Borough to consider Wanaque's request to renew an emergency water agreement between the two towns.

Wanaque and Ringwood had an agreement between 1992 and 2002 that allowed for emergency water to be taken by Wanaque through an interconnection of the two towns' water systems at Highland Avenue, Ringwood Avenue, and off of Conklintown Road. That agreement lapsed at the end of 2002.

Borough Administrator Carroll stated that a 'handshake agreement' between the two towns' water departments had allowed Wanaque to take additional water, meeting not only emergency but regular needs. Apparentely, Wanaque was taking water from Ringwood's allocation from North Jersey District Water Supply Commision (Wanaque Reservoir) whenever their own tanks dipped below 60% of capacity, especially during the summer months. He also said that the regular water taken from Ringwood would only be interim, until the Pulte project received their first certificate of occupancy, or until October 2006, whichever came sooner. He also said that the borough was in the process of obtaining permits for a booster pump station and water main extension to allow them to use their own 1 million gallon allocation they had obtained from the Passaic Valley Water Commission. This did not alleviate concerns by the Ringwood council members, however.

Councilman Tom MacAllen noted that the current arrangement allowed Wanaque to continue development of their town over the past ten years while never expanding their own water supply, and worsened traffic and other problems.  He asked Mr. Carroll how Wanaque had gotten themselves into a situation whereby they could not meet their daily water requirements. As MacAllen pressed further and asked if overdevelopment wasn't the source of the problem, Mr. Carroll admitted that it "probably" was the cause.

Another concern of Ringwood Council members was whether giving regular water to Ringwood would enable other development projects in the pipeline to proceed, especially the Pulte project on Powder Hollow. Carroll stated that only the Pulte Project and a 100 unit age-restricted project at the site of a former candle factory were in the pipeline for development. But CLEAN's president, Jon Berry, stood and read from the Borough's own application to the DEP for a booster station, and noted that some thirteenpotential development projects.

NJDEP Commissioner Bradley Campbell also weighed in on the matter, writing to the Ringwood Council and asking them to renew the emergency water agreement, but noting that their concerns that allowing the Pulte project to proceed if they provided the water would not be resolved by withholding it. He mentioned that the town would find other sources of water should Ringwood not provide it. Following up, Councilwoman Joanne Atlas asked Mr. Carroll where the water would be obtained. He replied that they would have to buy it from another municipality. When asked what would be the result of Ringwood limiting Wanaque to emergency supplies only, Carroll replied that residents would be restricted from filling swimming pools and watering lawns. (Ringwood has a permanent ordinance limiting lawn watering to an odd-even schedule, and has maintained that for many years as a means of conserving their own water).

Council members Scott Heck and Bill Marsala pushed to allow for the additional water for Wanaque, claiming that as a 'sister' community, we should provide additional water to Wanaque, with Councilman Heck claiming that we send "Ringwood's water" all over the northern part of the state. However, Mayor Taule quickly corrected Heck, noting that Wanaque is actually taking part of Ringwood's allocation, where other communities are taking their own allocation from the reservoir. Deputy Mayor O'Hearn also noted that the Highlands Act was specifically designed to use water as a means of curbing excessive growth, so we would be underwriting sprawl if providing additional water to Wanaque to allowed them to continue developing without their own water supply.

The Council voted 4 to 3 to limit water to Wanaque to an emergency basis only, rejecting the request to provide regular water.