Category: Water Quality
The Cape Cod Freshwater Initiative is a science-based, information-driven planning process that engages stakeholders and enables action to protect and restore Cape Cod’s freshwater resources. It began in 2021 with an update to the Cape Cod Ponds Atlas. Since then, the team has been working to collect the data needed to make informed management decisions in our ponds and to better understand how they are changing from season to season and year to year.
During its meeting on March 22, 2024, the Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board voted to adopt a new model for providing subsidies to projects listed on the Clean Water Intended Use Plan (IUP), beginning with projects listed on the 2023 IUP. Fund disbursements will shift from a principal forgiveness model to one that provides a portion of the 25% subsidy over the loan term. Subsidy payments are made when principal payments on the loan are due.
The Cape Cod Commission will lead an effort to expand satellite-derived water quality data collection and analysis and enhance existing pond monitoring efforts, funded by a $298,527 Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Priority Research Grant.
The first year of the new Cape Cod Regional Pond Monitoring Program concludes this month.
The Cape Cod and Islands Water Protection Fund Management Board voted June 13, 2023 to award $41,942,700 in subsidies to water quality projects in six Cape Cod towns.
Contingent commitments for 25% subsidies to fund qualified projects listed on the 2023 Clean Water State Revolving Fund Intended Use Plan were awarded to water quality and wastewater projects in the towns of Barnstable, Chatham, Harwich, Mashpee, Wellfleet, and Yarmouth. Projects receiving funds include pump station improvements and sewer extensions and expansions, construction of wastewater treatment facilities, and an innovative/alternative septic system program
Stormwater runoff, development, erosion, invasive species, and septic system discharge impact the health of Cape Cod's 890 ponds. Across the region, management strategies of different types and scales are being implemented to improve water quality and overall pond health.
Cape Cod Commission staff are using hydrologic response units to identify at-risk sections of pond buffers, better understand pollutant flow, and develop effective solutions.
A comprehensive pond monitoring program is now underway to gather consistent data from ponds across Cape Cod.
Cape Cod communities are making strides to reduce nitrogen flow into our coastal waters, and now local leaders are reviewing a pair of proposals designed to encourage watershed-based comprehensive planning and implementation.
The newly formed Cape Cod Ponds Network, convened for the first time in 2022 in response to growing concern over the health of Cape Cod’s ponds, is a way for those who care about ponds to learn from one another and exchange ideas on topics of regional interest.
