Ever since Water District 19 observed the results of our allocation of new water shares two years ago, our commission has been weighing how to use our resources to better meet the needs of the district’s population.

We noticed that few of the newly issued water shares actually connected to our system. Nor had their owners even sought the paperwork to apply for a building permit. Since our system’s capacity is limited, water units reserved by people who weren’t ready to use them had, in effect, kept that water from serving more immediate human needs, such as housing or new businesses.

I described that dilemma in these pages last fall, when the district invited the public to consider the issue with us at a public meeting. You responded with keen interest, and filled the Land Trust’s meeting room in November for a constructive conversation. After incorporating the ideas we heard that evening, my fellow commissioners and I drafted a new water allocation policy and refined it through legal review. We’re inviting comment one more time before we enact any changes.

The key revision we’re proposing is that new water unit assignments won’t be finalized until applicants complete their proposed project and connect to district mains. No longer will landowners be able to acquire water units for some indefinite future aspiration.

Second, commissioners will have the discretion to reserve some new water units for priority uses, such as affordable housing developments in which all the units are income-restricted for at least 50 years. The district will continue to buy back unused water units — and sellers will be able to earmark those units exclusively for priority uses. Thus, they could be confident that by selling us their water unit, they wouldn’t simply be increasing another landowner’s property values, but rather helping to address the island’s pressing needs.

Finally, we envision that the applicants who remained unserved after the 2023 water lottery will be offered the opportunity to obtain water units under these new rules, before we accept applications from any additional landowners.

The specifics are more detailed than I can describe here, so we have posted the full text of the draft resolutions on our website, water19.com. We invite you to share your thoughts about these proposals at a public meeting to be held 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 22 at the Land Trust building, or by email to water19@water19.com.

We aim to adopt the new water-share system next month, in order to more perfectly match our island’s needs and constraints in the 21st century.

Seth Zuckerman is president of the Water District 19 Board of Commissioners.