The Boscawen side of Walker Pond, a former source of drinking water owned by the local water district, has been preserved from development. What happens on the Webster side of the pond remains to be seen.
The land around the 200-acre pond has been owned for decades by the Penacook-Boscawen Water Precinct, which now provides water from wells to about 1,100 customers, mostly residential, in Boscawen and Penacook. On Wednesday night, the precinct voted unanimously to sell the two parcels in Boscawen, totaling about 65 acres, to the town for $90,000. The purchase, made with conservation commission funds, had previously been approved by the Boscawen select board.
“To me, this is one of the best things that could have happened for Boscawen. Generations of families have brought their children up there to go canoeing, kayaking, fishing. On Father’s Day you always see dads up there, fishing with their kids,” said Lorrie Carey, chairwoman of Boscawen select board and a former Water Precinct commissioner.
The Water Precinct used the lake as a source “back when we liked drinking chunky water,” Carey said, but now depends on drilled wells. Part of the reason to raise money is the desire to drill another well. The pond has a dam and a pump house dating back from the drinking water days.
The precinct meeting also voted narrowly to authorize the sale of the five lots on the Webster side of the lake, totaling less than 60 acres, with the proceeds deposited in an investment fund.
Betsy Janeway of Webster, who attended the Water Precinct meeting, said that the town would look into what they might do to keep the lots from being developed.
“Webster wants to protect them. We always were pleased that the precinct owned them,” she said. “The conservation commission will try to do what it can do. … It’s one of the best wildlife areas in town.”
The Water Precinct is also connected to Concord’s water system and can provide backup water to the city.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @GraniteGeek.)
