BOSTON (AP) - Four environmental groups are returning to a state
advisory panel after the Patrick administration agreed to suspend a
contentious new water policy.

The Conservation Law Foundation, Charles River Watershed
Association, Ipswich River Watershed Association and Clean Water
Action all resigned from the panel last month. They left in protest
after the administration reversed a policy aimed at protecting fish
and other wildlife while determining how much water could be safely
withdrawn from river basins.

Gov. Deval Patrick said Tuesday that the state Department of
Environmental Protection would work with the groups to craft a new
rule that embraces "environmental protection factors including the
ecological health of rivers."

The policy had been in effect through five previous governors.