Community Engagement | Tools and Resources | Local Planning Guidance
Wastewater management on Cape Cod impacts everyone and requires broad engagement and focused working groups. In the coming months the Cape Cod Commission will work to develop an approach for establishing a watershed-based community engagement process. The process will facilitate dialogue where local stakeholders provide input and contribute to the development of a solution. This collaborative approach will be designed and conducted in a way that balances local input with local needs, interests, and capacities.
The RWMP identifies a broad framework within which a range of potential solutions can be discussed. The Cape Cod Commission will provide technical assistance in identifying solutions that are specific to the individual needs of each watershed and fit within the following framework:
Throughout the process of engagement and solution identification, a number of tools and resources will be available.
A Systems Dynamics Model – A computer-aided approach to understanding the dynamics of a natural, built, or social system. For Cape Cod, the model evaluates the impacts of different forms of wastewater treatment on nutrient loading in the region’s estuaries. The model is being further developed to include impacts of wastewater treatment choices on the economy and society.
A Rate Model – A financial model that considers a number of global inputs and assumptions about developed parcels, parcels to be sewered in any given scenario, and capital and operations/maintenance (O&M) costs for various treatment options, as well as customer characteristics and financial inputs such as inflation rate and debt service.
A Game-based Planning Tool – A new tool will be used for community education and to encourage participation in developing planning scenarios for addressing wastewater Cape-wide.
As Cape Cod residents are given an effective way to participate and provide input and town officials and community members better understand their options for moving forward, a Cape-wide strategy will emerge—a product developed through coordination and cooperation.
As tools and resources are finalized they will be made available to aid in watershed planning efforts.
Under its regulatory authority, the Cape Cod Commission reviews local wastewater management plans as well as applications for State Revolving Fund (SRF) zero-percent interest-rate loans. The Commission has written the following guidance documents to aid towns undergoing those reviews:
Watershed Solutions: [Green Infrastructure Site Selection]
Watershed Solutions: [Moving Forward with Watershed Solutions]
RWMP Principles, Goals, Strategies, & Measures
Abbreviations & Acronyms
Glossary
Literature Citations
Finalize Watershed MVP
Finish watershed-based pilot study
Finalize model IMAs and MOUs
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