RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, the Authority desires to reactivate the Lake Whitney/Mill River system as a water supply by constructing a treatment plant (“Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant”) to increase the Authority’s maximum water treatment capacity and to meet the projected water supply needs of the South Central Regional water district over a 50-year planning period; and

WHEREAS, the Authority maintains that it has the right to divert up to 15.45 million gallons/day (“mgd”) of water from the Lake Whitney/Mill River system, because it has registered that amount with the Connecticut State Department of Environmental Protection (“DEP”) under the terms of a 1982 statute, CGS §22a-368; and

WHEREAS, the municipalities maintain that they are abutters with riparian rights to the Mill River, which rights may conflict with the Authority’s right under CGS §22a-368; and

WHEREAS, the DEP identifies the Mill River on its 1998 List of Impaired Waters in Connecticut due to low flow rates; and

WHEREAS, the Mill River flows through Hamden, into the Lake Whitney Reservoir, through East Rock Park, and other portions of New Haven; and

WHEREAS, Lake Whitney, the Mill River and East Rock Park constitute a significant natural and cultural resource for south central Connecticut protected under the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act of 1971. Conn. Gen. Stat, §22a-14 et. seq.; and

WHEREAS, the Authority commissioned a team of consultants (the “Study Team”) to evaluate the potential impacts of the proposed diversion and to recommend measures to avoid or mitigate unacceptable impacts to the natural and human environment caused thereby; and

WHEREAS, the Study Team concluded that without mitigation, operation of the proposed Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant has the potential to cause significant adverse impacts on the Lake Whitney/Mill River environment, especially on the downstream Mill River corridor; and

WHEREAS, a team of consultants from Environmental Science Services, Inc. (“ESS”) was commissioned by the City of New Haven Board of Park Commissioners to provide third party review of the Study Team’s mitigation recommendations, and subsequently issued a report (“ESS Report”) recommending that the Authority incorporate certain additional mitigation measures included in Section 5.0 of the ESS Report; and

WHEREAS, on November 16, 1999 the Representative Policy Board of the South Central Connecticut Regional Water District (“RPB”) approved the application of the Authority to construct the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant without reference to the mitigation recommendations (“Decision”); and

WHEREAS, the City of New Haven and the Town of Hamden, as rate-payers, riparian landowners, and stewards of the public trust, claim they are aggrieved by the RPB’s Decision and have timely appealed it in a civil action now pending in the New Haven Superior Court, styled as City of New Haven. et al. v. Regional Water Authority, et al., Docket No. 00 0433673S (“lawsuit”); and

WHEREAS, the Connecticut Fund for the Environment and Friends of East Rock Park have separately intervened as parties to the lawsuit under the Connecticut Environmental Protection Act of 1971 and they claim that without a condition requiring a plan of operation mitigating potential unacceptable impacts, the Decision allows unreasonable impairment of the public trust in water; and

WHEREAS, the Office of Consumer Affairs representative (“OCA”) has also separately intervened as a party to the lawsuit under the terms of the Authority’s enabling statute CT S.A. 77-98 “An Act Concerning Financial Assistance for Water Companies for Construction of Treatment Plants and Creating the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority,” as amended by CT S.A. 78-24, 84-46, and 99-12; and

WHEREAS, the parties recognize that the Authority has need for flexibility in the operation of its system while at the same time exercising its obligation to the public, through a plan of operation that provides the proper balance between the Authority’s need to procure additional water sources and its obligation to preserve the natural environment; and

WHEREAS, the Authority recognizes its responsibility as one of the users able to affect the health and well-being of the environment in and around Lake Whitney and the Mill River and is fully committed to manage and operate the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant so as to mitigate the potential negative environmental impacts occasioned by the diversion; and

WHEREAS, the Authority’s Study Team and other representatives of the Authority have met with ESS and have drafted a Management Plan for the proposed Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A; and

WHEREAS, the parties are desirous of concluding the lawsuit without judicial findings and judgment;

IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED THAT:

1. By November 30, 2003 the Authority shall undertake and complete a study of dissolved oxygen concentrations in the downstream Mill River Corridor from the Whitney dam to the Orange Street bridge, for the purpose of determining the dissolved oxygen concentrations in the spillway plunge pool necessary for maintaining acceptable dissolved oxygen levels downstream. The Management Plan, if necessary, shall be amended to reflect the results of such study.
2. With the intent of fully involving the public and in particular, the Town of Hamden and the City of New Haven and all interested stakeholders, in the Authority’s use of the Lake Whitney/Mill River system as part of the regional water supply, the Authority shall:
   1.  Convene a public meeting each February in a convenient location proximate to the site for the purpose of reviewing the Management Plan as it affects the Lake Whitney/Mill River system during the previous year and the Plan for managing the system for the ensuing year. The meeting will be facilitated by a member of the Environmental Study Team and will at a minimum cover the following areas:
      1. Review any instances during the past year where Performance Standards, mitigation and/or monitoring measures set forth in the Management Plan attached hereto were not met or were suspended and the reasons therefor;
      2.  Review any proposed or potential suspensions of Performance Standards, mitigation and/or monitoring measures set forth in the Management Plan during the ensuing year and reasons therefor, including projected impacts;
      3. Review any significant changes under consideration for the Management Plan as it regards the Lake Whitney/Mill River system, and the reasons therefor.
   2. Maintain an interactive website on the Internet specifically dedicated to information and discussions regarding the Lake Whitney/Mill River system and post on that website information with regard to the management of the plant, including:
      1. Monitoring reports and metering data regarding the Lake Whitney/Mill River system;
      2. The complete Management Plan for the operation of the Lake Whitney/Mill River system;
      3. Information on any emergency suspension of mitigation measures due to unexpected circumstances, such as a fire or system failure within seven days after such event has occurred;
      4. Notice, at least 60 days in advance, of any temporary suspensions of the mitigation and/or monitoring measures set forth in the Management Plan caused by events that are known in advance, such as planned dam maintenance, setting forth the reason for the suspension and the expected duration;
      5. Notice, at least 90 days in advance, of any proposed significant change to the Management Plan, setting forth and including proposed reasons and supporting data for any such proposed change, including a written review prepared by the Study Team as provided in Paragraph 4 hereof;
      6. Daily river flow data, lake level data and RWA withdrawal data, posted periodically;
      7. Metering records of Mill River wellfields;
      8. Recommendations made by the Study Team as set forth in paragraph 4, below; and
      9. Notice of the most recent filing date of any amendment to the Authority’s water supply plan.
3. The Authority shall, during those years in which water is diverted from the Lake Whitney/Mill River system and treated at the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant or any successor plant, abide by the terms and conditions of the Management Plan.
4. The Authority shall maintain an Environmental Study Team, which shall include a qualified scientist appointed jointly by the City of New Haven and the Town of Hamden. The Study Team shall be charged with reviewing the environmental effects of the Lake Whitney Water Treatment Plant on the Lake Whitney/Mill River system in accordance with the Management Plan. The Study team shall suggest changes as need be to the Authority with regard to performance standards and mitigation measures. The Authority will review the portion of its water supply plan affecting the Lake Whitney/Mill River system, including the drought response plan, with the Study Team in time for the next scheduled update of the Plan in 2002.
5. The Authority will endeavor to schedule planned system repairs and maintenance to the dam in such a way as to maintain Performance Standards set forth in the Management Plan and thereby minimize negative environmental impacts to the Lake Whitney/Mill River system.
6. The Authority shall, as changing circumstances warrant, review the operation of the Management Plan. Significant changes to the plan shall only be made after appropriate notice to the public and review and input from the Study Team.