In Steve Fagin's otherwise excellent piece (“Hikers welcome at West Hartford reservoirs,” Sept. 1) comparing the open hiking allowed in the West Hartford reservoir area to the restricted access at Groton's reservoirs, it should be noted that while Groton's reservoirs are used for drinking water, the ones in the West Hartford hiking area are not. The Metropolitan District Commission's raw water sources for the Hartford area come from much larger reservoirs about 20 miles away in heavily wooded forest areas and are gravity-fed to the treatment plants in West Hartford and Bloomfield. The several ponds seen along the hiking trails in the West Hartford MDC property help to protect and flush the acres of underground treatment areas at the plants, but they are not part of the clean water supply.

So, it is understandable that Groton Utilities needs to be more cautious than the MDC about allowing public access to its reservoir areas, which also have power lines and a major highway running through them, plus active gravel pits near their shores. Here is hoping that the Tri Town Trail Association can succeed getting at least some greater access to trails near our Groton reservoirs.

David Downes

Groton