BELCHERTOWN — In a rare local meeting of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s board of directors, town officials and state legislators gave impassioned pleas for fairness and equity regarding the Quabbin Reservoir on Friday.

State Rep. Aaron Saunders, D-Belchertown, said the meeting was an opportunity for the directors to hear from people affected in perpetuity by the reservoir. Lawmakers and leaders from municipalities in the watershed testified to towns’ stewardship of the vital resource, their foregone revenue and the impact this has had on their local economies.

“Belchertown is under a water ban. Folks here can only use water for essential purposes, while 180 million gallons per day are extracted from this community,” Saunders said inside the Les and Terry Campbell Quabbin Visitor Center on the first floor of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Quabbin Administration Building.

The ongoing drought has affected the Quabbin Reservoir’s water level, which on June 1 was listed as below normal. The Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs declared a Level 2 Significant Drought in the Connecticut River Valley on Thursday following a review of conditions through the end of June, which showed continued below-average rainfall, declining streamflow and falling groundwater levels. The water levels at the Quabbin are expected to remain below normal for about 12 more months.

Saunders said the town’s schools may have to cancel their fall sport seasons because there might not be enough water to irrigate the playing fields. He said Quabbin communities receive just three-tenths of 1% of the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s budget and advocated for more.

“This isn’t handouts. It’s not charity,” he said, adding that the reservoir has “facilitated billions upon billions of dollars of economic development for our friends in the eastern part of the state.”

Four towns — Dana, Enfield, Greenwich and Prescott — were disincorporated on April 27, 1938, to create the reservoir to ensure Boston had improved water access. The Quabbin region was ideal because it averaged 44 inches of rainfall annually and had hundreds of small streams flowing into the valley.

Construction of the reservoir began in 1936, with filling commencing on Aug. 14, 1939. It was completed in 1946, when water first flowed over the spillway. The reservoir now covers 39 square miles, with 181 miles of shoreline, according to the state’s website. South Hadley, Wilbraham and Chicopee also get water from the reservoir.

But at least 1,100 structures, including 650 homes, were dismantled in the four “lost” towns and land was taken from eight others through eminent domain if homeowners refused to sell their houses to the state for fair-market value. Anyone with a business in one of those towns received no compensation for it and, likewise, the region has received minimal compensation for its continued efforts and sacrifice since then.

The generational hurt and frustration can often be heard in the voices of Quabbin residents, including Saunders.

“For those who know me, this isn’t my usual tone,” he said to applause in the jam-packed room. “But … we’ve gotten a little too comfortable with the status quo.”

In 2023, he and state Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, introduced legislation to foster greater regional equity and provide for reasonable payments to Quabbin watershed communities for local municipal needs.

If passed, the legislation would implement payments to these communities for water infrastructure, such as conduits, pipes and hydrants, and to nonprofits providing health, welfare, safety and transit services in the region. It also would require more Quabbin representation on the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s board of directors by adding two Connecticut River Valley seats and expanding the board, so three of 13 members are from western Massachusetts.

The law would also establish a 5-cent fee for every 1,000 gallons drawn from the Quabbin to be placed in a new Quabbin Host Community Development Trust Fund.

At Friday’s meeting, Comerford advocated for local representation on the board and for establishment of the trust fund.

“[My constituents] are compensated inadequately,” she told the board of directors. “We’re asking you to look at your nearly billion-dollar budget and make adjustments.”

Comerford mentioned the recent devastating fire at Robert Bowers’ home at 131 Wickett Pond in Wendell, where firefighters struggled with excessive summer heat and a lack of water. She explained that 17 neighboring fire departments had to haul water to the scene because Wendell didn’t have access to enough.

Representing New Salem on Friday, Selectboard Chair Sue Cloutier, member Richard Taupier and Town Coordinator Emily Hill stressed this matter’s urgency.

“We need to have a voice with the MWRA,” Cloutier said. “Our residents are older. The gray hair shows. Close to a majority of us are over 60. We’re on fixed income. We don’t provide a lot of tax revenue for our municipality. We tried to get an override. It didn’t pass.

“We want the MWRA to recognize that we are part of the commonwealth,” she added.

Hill said New Salem is filled with residents who genuinely love the Quabbin Reservoir but feel their stewardship is not appreciated and that they are being taken advantage of. She mentioned that 91% of New Salem cannot be developed due to watershed protections.

“We can’t tax more,” she said.

New Salem officials also spoke about having to replace a culvert, which will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. An engineer has reportedly told the town that the project will cost an extra $8,000 due to legally required additional testing.

Orange Town Administrator Matthew Fortier said his town’s residents voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution in support of Comerford’s and Saunders’ legislation, called “An Act Relative to the Quabbin Watershed and Regional Equity” (S.546/H.1042). He said the reservoir helps make Boston a thriving city with incredible economic opportunity and Massachusetts can afford to be more equitable with the Quabbin region. He said the state would independently be one of the wealthiest nations in the world, yet it deals with such regional inequity.

Ed Comeau, vice chair of the Belchertown Communications Committee, spoke about the effects of climate change and the inequity of the current situation.

“Of the 35 communities that receive Quabbin water as their primary water supply, only one community, Reading, has implemented water conservation. More than 140 public water suppliers outside of the MWRA system, elsewhere in Massachusetts, have implemented mandatory restrictions because of drought conditions,” he said. “The question is not whether we have enough water. The question is whether we are doing everything we reasonably can do today, to protect it for tomorrow. The best time to conserve water is before a crisis, not during one.”