Two Pawcatuck residents are urging officials across the state line in Rhode Island to help protect their drinking water, warning that a proposed Connecticut housing development could threaten the wellfield supplying about 70% of Westerly's daily water.
Here's what to know
The appeal came during the meeting's closing public comment period, according to Uprise RI.
Residents urged the Westerly Town Council to join Connecticut litigation involving Beachway Estates in Stonington, which cited the council's published meeting recording.
The developer's December lawsuit followed Stonington's rejection of the project in November 2025 over safety concerns, the first speaker said.
One Pawcatuck resident whose household gets its drinking water from Westerly identified the property as the old Roselinis, as it is known locally. She said the case was before the Connecticut Superior Court.
According to the resident, Stonington's planning and zoning officials agreed on Sept. 1 to settle the lawsuit by removing three housing units and adding stipulations.
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More background
According to her account, the property sits about 1,600 feet from the wellfield.
She referenced a hydrogeologist's assessment that places the site within both the White Rock Wellfield's wellhead protection area and a portion of the aquifer's recharge area.
She was concerned that reduced infiltration could gradually lower the water table, and said that paving would cover at least 80% of the site, up from roughly 10%.
The settlement provides neither aquifer-specific stipulations nor established maintenance and monitoring plans, she added.
Road salt and certain other pollutants would remain untreated by the planned man-made gravel wetland, according to the hydrogeologist's assessment she relayed, which also characterized the wetland as too small.
What's being done?
Court permission allows an intervener to participate in an ongoing case that affects its interests.
That is the role the residents want Westerly to take, Uprise RI noted.
Stonington had not shared project details with Westerly, the first speaker said. She said concerns that planning and zoning officials had exceeded their authority led Stonington's selectmen to vote unanimously on Oct. 26 to join the case.
Council President Christopher A. Duhamel requested a report from the town planner examining Rhode Island's authority over the development. The Westerly council took no vote on the residents' request.
The resident gave council members the hydrogeologist's letter and asked them to "step in as interveners on behalf of the Pockatuck sole source aquifer."
Where can I learn more?
Communities elsewhere are also weighing how development could affect their drinking water. These stories cover water allocations and efforts to protect wells.
• A California water district is considering selling 40% of its allotment for 4,000 homes.
• Michigan residents pressed the EPA as a campground owner warned potash wells could dry his pump.
• In East Texas, groundwater officials paused a plan as warnings about dry wells grew.
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