Residents of Norfolk and Franklin can hear from state and local officials about Kingsbury Pond at a community meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7 p.m.

State Senator Becca Rausch, who represents both towns, is hosting. According to her office, attendees will include the state representatives and town administrators for both towns, plus representatives of the Norfolk Select Board and the Franklin Town Council. Information from the Department of Environmental Protection, which oversees wells, will be shared. The location had not been announced at press time. Rausch's office says it will be posted on her social media channels.

Here is a refresher on the issue, along with questions attendees may want to ask.

The pond and the well

Kingsbury Pond, in northwest Norfolk near the Franklin line, is a glacial kettle pond. No stream flows in or out. According to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), its level depends on groundwater and rain.

In July 1964, Franklin began pumping a new town well about 1,300 feet from the pond. Today it is called Well 4. A regional drought was already under way. By December 1966, the pond had dropped about 13 feet. It shrank from 26 acres to about 9, according to a 1967 USGS report.

USGS found that groundwater that once flowed toward the pond was now flowing toward the well. It could not say how much of the drop came from pumping and how much from drought.

Norfolk and pond residents later sued Franklin. A court-appointed master found the well caused the decline. A judge dismissed the case in 1973.

Why the pond rises and falls

A 2023 USGS study, done for the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), used a computer model of the area's groundwater.

The model estimated the pond would average about 136 feet above sea level with no nearby pumping. With Franklin's 2010-2019 pumping, the estimate dropped to 132.2 feet, about 3.8 feet lower.

Well 4 had the largest effect. Franklin's Well 5, farther from the pond, had a smaller one.

Pumping does not drain the pond like a bathtub. Steady pumping lowers the surrounding water table to a new, lower balance point, and the pond settles there. In the model, pumping Wells 4 and 5 at their maximum allowed rates all year lowered the average to 129.3 feet.

Weather moves the pond up and down around that point. From 2001 to 2007, measured levels ranged from 126 to 137 feet. In 2024, the pond peaked at about 136.4 feet in May and fell to about 128.3 feet by December, according to USGS data.

Norfolk resident John Griffin, who has pressed officials on the issue, reports provisional September 2026 readings of about 126.1 feet. That is close to the 1966 low.

The 2023 study also tested a change. It cut Wells 4 and 5 to about one-third of their practical capacity and shifted the pumping to Franklin's other wells. The pond's modeled average rose to 134.1 feet, recovering about half the effect of pumping.

There was a tradeoff. Less water would flow in Mine Brook in Franklin, including two protected trout streams. USGS also said it had not confirmed the changes would be workable for Franklin's system.

Franklin's need for water

Franklin relies entirely on groundwater, Town Administrator Jamie Hellen said in a May interview with Norfolk Wrentham Town News. Hellen said the pond's decline cannot be blamed on pumping alone. He cited recurring drought, climate pressures and the nature of kettle ponds.

According to a July 2026 memo prepared for Franklin by its consultant, Wells 4 and 5 averaged about 880,000 gallons a day in 2025. DEP reports Franklin's total withdrawals ranged from 2.2 to 2.5 million gallons a day from 2020 to 2024.

The memo calls the two wells critical backups. Other Franklin wells have been shut down at times, including two offline from 2022 into 2026 for PFAS treatment. PFAS are the so-called "forever chemicals."

The permit decision

DEP is reviewing Franklin's water withdrawal permit, which allows up to 3.44 million gallons a day. In May 2025, DEP asked Franklin to justify that amount and to evaluate reducing pumping at Wells 4 and 5.

In its July 2026 memo, Franklin said it would consider reducing those wells toward 200 and 100 gallons per minute. All of its listed conditions would first have to hold for two weeks. They include:

the pond being below normal levels

all Franklin wells online at full capacity

no drought

no construction at Franklin's Fisher Street treatment plant

If any condition changes, pumping would return to normal levels.

Griffin argues that under these terms, a low pond alone would not require a reduction, and a drought would block one. In emails to Rausch's office, he cited Franklin records showing Wells 4 and 5 pumped about 22 percent more from January through September 2026 than in the same months of 2025.

DEP has said it will release a draft permit for a 30-day public comment period.

What Norfolk is doing

On Sept. 9, Norfolk's Advisory Committee approved about $8,800 to restart USGS water-level monitoring at the pond for one year. The town has discussed forming a Kingsbury Pond working group.

DEP also plans to require Franklin to make "best efforts" to have Norfolk add the land around Wells 4 and 5 that extends into Norfolk to Norfolk's aquifer protection district. That would bar certain new land uses there, such as landfills and hazardous waste facilities. A zoning change would require a Town Meeting vote.

Wrentham also operates wells in the same river basin. The 2023 USGS study did not report any effect from them on the pond.

Questions to consider asking

Residents attending on Nov. 19 may want answers from their elected officials and from DEP on questions like the following.

For DEP:

Will the permit set a pond level that requires Franklin to reduce pumping? What protection applies during a drought or when another Franklin well is offline?

Kingsbury Pond is a state-designated Great Pond, held for public use. How does DEP weigh that in the permit decision?

How will Norfolk's new monitoring data be used?

For state legislators:

What happens after this meeting, and on what timeline?

Will DEP be asked to explain its decision publicly before the permit is final?

Beyond the permit process, what can the state do?

For Franklin's elected officials:

Did pumping at Wells 4 and 5 increase in 2026, as records obtained by residents indicate? If so, why?

Will Franklin publicly release daily pumping records for Wells 4 and 5?

How much water does Franklin expect to need over the next decade? Could it operate under a lower permit limit?

What steps could reduce reliance on Wells 4 and 5, such as other wells or purchased water? What would they cost?

For Norfolk's elected officials:

What permit conditions is Norfolk asking DEP to include?

Which properties would a possible aquifer protection change affect, and how?

What will the Kingsbury Pond working group do?

Does the town expect further costs beyond the $8,800 for monitoring?