Attleboro’s water superintendent has resigned after the mayor blamed “oversight and communication issues” for a water supply emergency that is set to stretch well into the new year. Kourtney Allen resigned on Monday after Mayor Catheen DeSimone wrote in a letter to residents last week that human mistakes, not just the drought and other natural factors, contributed to an “unplanned, avoidable, and totally unacceptable water loss.” Allen’s departure has left the city scrambling to find a new superintendent while it contracts with a consultant to work with the assistant superintendent and oversee several large water department projects, DeSimone told residents Monday afternoon.
“Moving forward also means better oversight of internal operations, evaluating and improving department practices and procedures, and establishing clear and open channels of communication between department management and staff members,” the mayor wrote in a letter. “At the same time,” she added, “we must continue our efforts to increase our water supply storage capacity, add groundwater wells, and better enforce the annual outdoor water use restrictions. Most important, we will learn, change, and do better to ensure that we don’t find ourselves in this situation again.
” Attleboro, a city of roughly 46,600 residents bordering Rhode Island, has been in a water supply emergency since Nov. 19, when the state Department of Environmental Protection declared it. The mandatory ban on al.