Oak Bluffs voters this week took steps to help the town increase its water supply in the face of a looming shortage. 

At the Oak Bluffs Water District meeting Tuesday, about 30 residents voted to allow the district to borrow $30 million to design and construct a new well and a new storage tank, a project the district estimates will take five to seven years.

The project was proposed because the town’s water demand continues to exceed its current supply in the summer during peak morning hours, according to Alston Potts, the water district’s engineering consultant.

“The district already struggles to meet demands during peak hours in season,” he said. “In addition to that, there are high elevation customers in town that don’t receive adequate pressures on a day to day basis.”

The district, which is a public water system that is independent from the town, has had a mandatory summer water ban since 2006. It states that customers living at even-numbered addresses may only use outdoor water on even-numbered days, while customers at odd-numbered addresses may only use outdoor water on odd-numbered days.

Mr. Potts also said that the existing storage tank does not provide adequate pressure to meet the needs of the fire department when responding to a fire.

During the district’s meeting on Tuesday, former Oak Bluffs fire chief Nelson Wirtz, who works with the fire department as a technical advisor, talked about the struggles with water. 

“It doesn’t matter if it is eight o’clock in the morning on a July morning or three o’clock in the afternoon in January. There are places in town where fire flow is not adequate for a fully involved structure, just your average home,” he said. “We have to go down the street to get more water, things like that.”

With the funding approval for the new well and storage tank, the water district will be able to apply for grants and other funding to help cover the cost, according to Michael Silvia, the water district superintendent. One of the sources the district is looking to is rotating funds from the Massachusetts Clean Water Trust.

Gail Barmakian, the chair of the wastewater commission, said she was concerned that the water trust’s funding may not apply to the project because the qualifications are strict. Mr. Potts said there were certain angles the district can argue that would allow the project to fall under the funding’s requirements.

Resident Kris Chvatal said that the issue was already apparent in his home. Even in January, he has weak water pressure.

“It is both a supply and pressure issue,” he said. “If there is a fire down there...we’re not going to be able to fight that in the summer.”

Tim McLean, the district’s treasurer, said that in a worst case scenario, water bills would increase up to $510 for a year while the district pays for the upgrades before decreasing in the following years. Any increase in water bills will be gradual and could start within the next two years, according to Mr. McLean and Mr. Silvia.

The water district is looking at an area on County Road to use as its new well source. In January of 2024, the site tested negative for PFAS, according to Mr. Silvia. Mr. Silvia hopes that the district will be able to purchase part of the property as eminent domain. The rest of the property is owned by Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank, which Mr. Silvia says will protect the area around the well from being developed.

In order to increase water supply, the district is also working to upgrade three of its five wells to be able to pump more water at one time.

The Oak Bluffs Water District has five wells, but only four of them can run at the same time due to the way they were constructed. When the fifth well pumps, its water runs through the building where the fourth well stands. The water district first allocated $1.8 million to uncouple two wells in April of last year. 

“If we can separate these, we essentially give ourselves another source at the same time,” Mr. Silvia said in an interview with the Gazette.

Once the two are separated, they will be able to pump at the same time and provide more water. He also said that the wells will be able to produce an additional 800 to 850 gallons of water per minute. At peak capacity, the system can currently produce 2,700 gallons a minute.

At the meeting this week, residents also voted to allocate an additional $700,000 to upgrade a third well, which operates on the same line as some of the other wells, so both projects could be completed together. The upgrades will allow the third well to pump water despite the increased pressure to the line while the others are working.