For many years, the Town of Concord has been trying to build a water treatment plant for water that they draw from Nagog Pond on the border between Acton and Littleton. The most recent plan had been to build a Nagog Treatment Plant on a town-owned parcel adjacent to the Concord municipal light plant by the rotary. As reported by the Acton Exchange in 2024, this plan has “three potential impacts for Acton: the possibility that a new water main would be installed under Great Road across the full breadth of Acton, the possibility that Concord Water Department would no longer serve water to parcels along Great Road, and the possibility that increased water withdrawals would result in less water in Nagog Pond and Nagog Brook.” Bonding of up to $50 million for the plant and related water system improvements was authorized by Concord Town Meeting in April 2024. Concord subsequently applied for, but did not receive, a low cost loan from the Massachusetts Drinking Water Revolving Fund for Nagog Treatment Plant work.
The rotary renovation plans all require using the land on which the Gulf gas station sits. At least some of the plans also involve the town-owned parcel between the gas station and the municipal light plant, which had been the intended site for the Nagog Water Treatment Plant. Motorists driving by the parcel in recent years will have seen a large pile of dirt and occasional earth moving equipment. According to extensive coverage by the Concord Bridge, the dirt pile was in support of the Kelley’s Corner renovation in Acton, and is the subject of a lawsuit alleging that the dirt was emplaced without the required wetlands permit.
At the May 13, 2026 water rate hearing before the Concord Public Works Commission, viewable on Minuteman Media Network, Town staff acknowledged that the status of the Nagog Water Treatment Plant is “tied to the work at the Rt 2 rotary.” Staff are working with the state on a possible “land swap” to locate the Nagog treatment plant elsewhere, and in the meantime are prioritizing improving treatment for two other water sources.
For Actonians who live on or drive along Great Road, the timing at which the road might be torn up to install a new water main from Nagog Pond to Concord may now be further in the future. Acton Select Board’s 2026 long term goal #8 is: Partner with MA DOT, Acton Water District and Town of Concord to develop a long-term infrastructure improvement plan to support existing residential and commercial properties along Great Road.
Kim Kastens is the managing editor and a Board member of the Acton Exchange, and also chairs the Green Acton Water Committee.
