Somerville, MA Water Use Rules: Recycled Water Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Reuse standard
- "To every extent practicable" (§10.9.2(a))
- Incentive
- Storm water impact fee credit (§10.9.2(b))
- Credit authority
- City Engineer, with review board approval
- Numeric reuse mandate
- None set in the ordinance
- Effective date
- Nov. 21, 2023 (Ord. 2023-24)
Summary
Somerville's Zoning Ordinance encourages reusing storm water on-site rather than piping it away. Section 10.9.2(a) directs that 'to every extent practicable, storm water should be reused on-site for irrigation or other purposes,' and subsection (b) lets the City Engineer credit a property's storm water impact fee for water diverted through green roofs or similar practices.
a. To every extent practicable, storm water should be reused on-site for irrigation or other purposes. b. The review boards may authorize the City Engineer to grant a credit to properties, against which any storm water impact fees are imposed, equivalent to the quantity of storm water that is removed from entering the system through the use of green roofs or other on-site storm water management practices.
Full Breakdown
4, covering shadow, wind, and glare review for high-rises). Subsection (a) is Somerville's operative reuse policy: it directs that storm water 'should be reused on-site for irrigation or other purposes' to the extent practicable, a standard that leaves the specific method to each project's design rather than fixing a required percentage or gallons-per-day target. The financial lever is subsection (b), which lets a review board (the Planning Board or Zoning Board of Appeals, depending on the permit involved) authorize the City Engineer to grant a credit against a property's storm water impact fees, sized to the quantity of storm water removed from entering the system through green roofs or other on-site storm water management practices.
Both provisions took effect with Ord. 2023-24 on November 21, 2023, as part of the article's original adoption. Because no numeric reuse mandate is written into the section, compliance is evaluated case-by-case during development review, and the fee credit is discretionary rather than automatic.
Violations & Fines
Section 10.9.2 sets a reuse encouragement and a discretionary fee credit rather than a mandatory numeric standard, so there is no standalone fine tied to failing to reuse storm water. A development that skips on-site reuse simply forfeits eligibility for the §10.9.2(b) fee credit; it must still comply with the city's broader storm water and impact fee requirements reviewed by the applicable board.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Somerville require buildings to recycle storm water for irrigation?
Is there a financial incentive to reuse storm water in Somerville?
Who decides whether a project qualifies for the storm water fee credit?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Somerville
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