Four towns — Dana, Enfield, Greenwich, and Prescott — were intentionally flooded in the 1930s to create the Quabbin Reservoir, which now provides water mainly to eastern Massachusetts.
State Sen. Jo Comerford's bill would provide payments to the communities now surrounding the Quabbin.
Comerford, a Democrat from Northampton, said it would establish an excise tax on Quabbin water that would produce an estimated $3.5 million per year. The proceeds would go to Quabbin watershed communities and local nonprofits that serve those towns' health, welfare, safety and transit.
Comerford said the bill would also add two seats to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's (MWRA) 11 member board of directors. Both would be filled by residents of the Connecticut River Valley.
The MWRA is looking to expand Quabbin water access across the state, and Comerford said she wants to make sure the needs of western Massachusetts are considered.
"As concerns about PFAS and other contaminants in the water spark in places all over our region, it becomes even more timely and more pressing that we get this right and we're not just an afterthought" Comerford said. "We are helping to to determine our own fate in terms of sustainability and the health of our people."
Comerford said she and bill co-sponsor Rep. Aaron Saunders of Belchertown will meet with MWRA officials next week.
This article contains information from the State House News Service.