Vt. Stat. tit. 24 § 3301
A municipal corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to construct, maintain, and repair an artesian well, reservoir or reservoirs, pumps, engines, and apparatus; take, purchase, and acquire any artesian wells, ponds, springs, streams, water courses, real estate, water rights, flowage rights, and easements necessary for its purposes within the limits provided by this section, together with such land surrounding and adjacent to the same as may be reasonably necessary for protecting and preserving the purity of the water in such artesian wells, ponds, springs, and streams; and may enclose such artesian wells, ponds, springs, and streams by suitable fences for the purpose of such protection; and such corporation, within the limits set forth in this section, and subject to the provisions of 30 V.S.A. § 108, may take, acquire, or purchase any or all of the rights or properties owned or operated by any person or corporation engaged in the business of a water company, as defined by 30 V.S.A. § 203, within the limits of such municipal corporation. Such corporation may enter in and upon any land or water for the purpose of making surveys, may take and construct dams and reservoirs, lay pipes and aqueducts, may connect the same with the main aqueduct as may be necessary to convey the water taken to the reservoirs of such municipal corporation and distribute the same through such municipal corporation for the purpose of supplying the inhabitants thereof with water for fire, domestic, and other purposes. However, such municipal corporation shall not take otherwise than by purchase water or a spring of water that the owner or lessee or other person having a vested right or interest in such water or the use thereof may reasonably require for domestic use or the watering of animals on the premises where such water may be in use.
24 V.S.A. § 3301