Since 2022, Dartmouth’s reliance on New Bedford water to fill gaps during the dryer months has steadily become a hefty expense for the town and the Select Board wants to see that change.

For 2025’s budget, the town allocated $1.4 million for New Bedford water, but it wasn’t too long ago the town was budgeting less than half that amount, according to Public Works Director Tim Barber.

At a June 17 Select Board meeting, members were surprised to learn just how expensive it is to use New Bedford water and called for change.

Barber highlighted 2022 as the year when reliance on New Bedford water spiked when bacteria closed the treatment facility at 579 Old Westport Road for two years.

Though using New Bedford’s water has been vital, it also costs 10 times more than Dartmouth’s water, at just under $9,000 per million gallons compared to the town's $800 per million gallons — and fees continue to increase.

In 2022, Barber said the town allocated $650,000 for New Bedford water, but spent $1.4 million. Since then, the amount paid to the city of New Bedford has continued to rise, with the budget officially reaching $1.4 million in 2024. 

Barber added some of the town’s wells have come back online. However, others remain down.

“We're working on a couple projects to improve the treatment facility and get those wells back online,” he said.

Weston and Sampson representative Ben Rollins, who has been consulting on the Public Works Department’s efficiency study, highlighted another issue with the city’s water.

Rollins said, “One of the major findings was that the water quality coming from New Bedford from the Faunce Corner pump station was relatively worse as compared to Dartmouth's own sources.”

Select Board member Stanley Mickelson said, “We can’t just sit back and just get year after year after year of additional costs for inferior water. We need to find alternatives.”

Select Board Chair Shawn McDonald said he has been unhappy with New Bedford as a partner and would be in favor of exploring other options.

In a later interview, Barber said “unfortunately,” no negotiations to reduce the cost have been made at this time.

The department continues to evaluate its water usage, he said, adding, “There’s a lot that goes into that,” such as rainfall, which can affect the town’s usage of groundwater, forcing it to rely on New Bedford’s surface water.

Barber said the town recently received its new Water Management Act Permit that allows for other wells to be used when the ones fed by the river are forced to close, reducing some of the town’s reliance on New Bedford.