Littleton Board of Health Advances New Well Regulation Framework, Defers Final Vote

LITTLETON -- June 26, 2024, Littleton Board of Health advances draft private well regulations but defers water quality decision. The board spent the majority of its June 26 meeting developing a tiered classification system for private wells, sorting them into drinking, irrigation, agricultural, and other categories, a structure that Health Director Kevin Baker and Chair Dan Kane said would clarify permitting, setback, and testing requirements across all well types. The draft currently establishes a 400-foot setback from underground fuel storage and pesticide tanks for potable wells; the board directed Health Administrator Francis Daigle to draft a parallel setback table for irrigation and agricultural wells, which members said would carry lesser but nonzero requirements. A public commenter, Chris Crawback of 105 Matawanake, pressed the board on whether the new rules would apply to existing wells, Kane confirmed they would not, and raised the unresolved question of whether water supply certificates should be required at property transfer, a policy the board has not yet formally debated. The board deferred Section 8, the water quality requirements, to its next meeting and asked all members to review it in advance.