Cape Cod Pond and Lake Atlas

The Cape Cod Pond and Lake Atlas, which was published in May 2003, is a status report on the Cape Cod Pond and Lake Stewardship (PALS) program. The Atlas documents the outreach and education activities leading to the creation of the PALS program, reviews water quality data collected by volunteers during the 2001 PALS Snapshot from over 190 ponds, uses this data to develop Cape Cod-specific nutrient indicators of pond impacts, reviews data collected in previous pond and lake studies, and details further efforts necessary to move pond protection and remediation forward on the Cape.

The Atlas has individual town maps showing the location of nearly 1,000 Cape Cod ponds. These ponds, which cumulatively cover nearly 11,000 acres, range in size from less than an acre to 735 acres; with the 21 biggest ponds having nearly half of the total Cape-wide pond acreage. The Atlas is the first comprehensive regional listing of the Cape's ponds.

The Atlas also reviews current USEPA and Cape Cod pond nutrient thresholds, nutrient and dissolved oxygen concentrations measured during the 2001 PALS Snapshot, beach bacterial testing, and state public health advisories for fish consumption. Based on information in the Atlas, between 74 and 93% of the Cape's ponds are impacted by surrounding development or uses. Based largely on dissolved oxygen information, approximately 45% of all the ponds and 89% of the deepest ponds are impaired. Fish from Cape Cod ponds show that nine of the 18 ponds tested (50%) have mercury concentrations requiring state public health consumption advisories. Although the ecological comparisons in the Atlas show significant impairments of pond ecosystems, bacterial testing of ponds show that these ponds generally provide healthy conditions for swimming.

Also included in the Atlas are water quality summaries of 65 individual ponds.  These summaries describe the sampling history and provide an overview of the current water quality status.

Copies of the Atlas were distributed to town halls and selected local libraries. Limited additional copies of the Atlas are available by contacting the Water Resources Office of the Cape Cod Commission (phone 508-362-3828 or send e-mail to water@capecodcommission.org).