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.