The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (SCCRWA or RWA) is a

public water supply In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichke ...

utility As a topic of economics, utility is used to model worth or value. Its usage has evolved significantly over time. The term was introduced initially as a measure of pleasure or happiness as part of the theory of utilitarianism by moral philosopher ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The RWA supplies water in a 15-town region with a population of about 430,000. The RWA acts as a steward of the environment in the local region by protecting more than 26,000 acres of watershed lands, and promoting sustainability. The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority is a non-profit public corporation and political subdivision of the State of Connecticut, but its core business was originally established and operated as the New Haven Water Company, a private business. The RWA produces on average 55 million gallons of water daily. One of its conduits is the

Genesee Tunnel The Genesee Tunnel is an underground water pipeline operated by the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (formerly the New Haven Water Company), part of the Authority's source water distribution system. The tunnel runs partly acr ...

History

The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority was originally established in 1849 as the New Haven Water Company. One of the company's founders was Eli Whitney II. In 1849, Whitney began construction of a dam that impounded the Mill River to form a reservoir, which is now named Lake Whitney. When the Safe Drinking Water Act was implemented in the 1970s, the former New Haven Water Company planned to sell off watershed lands to offset costs associated with maintaining compliance with the drinking water standards. Seeing the loss of public lands as an ecological loss and potentially detrimental to source water quality, the state legislator stepped in and reformed the New Haven Water Company into a new quasi-governmental organization. The South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority was established in 1977 by the

Connecticut General Assembly The Connecticut General Assembly (CGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. Th ...

and purchased the assets of the New Haven Water Company in 1980. In January 2008, the RWA purchased the former Ansonia division of Birmingham Utilities, which added Ansonia,

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

, and Seymour to its service area, which also includes the towns of

Bethany Bethany ( grc-gre, Βηθανία,Murphy-O'Connor, 2008, p152/ref> Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܥܢܝܐ ''Bēṯ ʿAnyā'') or what is locally known as Al-Eizariya or al-Azariya ( ar, العيزرية, " laceof Lazarus"), is a Palestinian town in the West B ...

, Branford,

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, East Haven, Hamden,

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

, North Branford, North Haven,

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

West Haven West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some R ...

and

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

Reservoirs

Drinking water distributed by the RWA comes from 10 reservoirs and three aquifers. Over 80 percent of drinking water supplied in the RWA district originates from four reservoir systems: North Branford, Saltonstall,

West River West River may refer to: Rivers Canada *West River (Antigonish, Nova Scotia) in Antigonish County, Nova Scotia * West River (Pictou, Nova Scotia) in Pictou County, Nova Scotia * West River (Halifax, Nova Scotia) in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia * West ...

and

Whitney Whitney may refer to: Film and television * ''Whitney'' (2015 film), a Whitney Houston biopic starring Yaya DaCosta * ''Whitney'' (2018 film), a documentary about Whitney Houston * ''Whitney'' (TV series), an American sitcom that premiered i ...

. The rest of the RWA's water comes from wellfields that draw from the

Quinnipiac Quinnipiac is the English name for the Eansketambawg (meaning "original people"; ''cf.'' Ojibwe: ''Anishinaabeg'' and Blackfoot: ''Niitsítapi''), a Quiripi-speaking Native American nation of the Algonquian family who inhabited the ''Wampano ...

and Mill River Aquifers located in Cheshire and Hamden, as well as the

Housatonic River The Housatonic River ( ) is a river, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United S ...

aquifer in Derby and Seymour.

Recreation Program

The RWA makes select watershed areas available for hiking, fishing and other activities through its recreation program
Recreation program
permit holders can access more than 50 miles of trails and five reservoirs in nine recreation areas spread across 13 communities in Greater New Haven. Revenue generated from the recreation program is used to support the RWA's conservation work. RWA recreation permit holders are able to enjoy the following recreation properties: Lake Saltonstall, Maltby Lakes, Hammonasset, Sugarloaf Hills, Genesee, Big Gulph, Lake Bethany, Pine Hill, and Lake Chamberlain. The RWA regularly holds fishing competitions, nature walks and other family-friends events for recreation permit holders.

HazWaste Central

On Saturdays from mid-May to October, the RWA open
HazWaste Central
the only permanent household hazardous waste collection facility in Connecticut. Residents from towns participating in HazWaste Central can drop off their household hazardous waste items for free.{{Cite web, url=https://www.rwater.com/products-services/hazwaste-central, title={{! Connecticut Regional Water Authority, website=Regional Water Authority, access-date=2018-07-02 Household hazardous waste items include: kitchen and bathroom cleaning products, nail polish remover, gasoline, paint thinner, antifreeze, auto batteries, used motor oil, latex and oil-based paints, pesticides, batteries, fluorescent light bulbs and more. Once hazardous waste items have been turned over, they will be safely disposed of through incineration, placement in special landfills, or recycled and reused if it is possible to do so. HazWaste Central helps protect the water resources in Greater New Haven, while providing cost-effective municipal services. Because the chemicals are safely collected, the land and important waterways are not polluted. Current HazWaste Central participating towns are:

, Branford, East Haven, Fairfield, Guilford, Hamden,

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

, Meriden,

, North Branford,

, Wallingford,

and

References

External links

South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority
website
Regional Water Authority Recreation Program
webpage
HazWaste Central
webpage New Haven County, Connecticut Water management authorities in the United States