3 Town Agreement to Clean Popponesset Bay Closer to Completion

Mashpee Selectman Andrew Gottlieb.

MASHPEE – An inter-municipal agreement to improve the water quality of Popponesset Bay is on the verge of completion.

The towns of Mashpee, Barnstable and Sandwich have agreed on a shared responsibility for the excess nitrogen from septic systems impacting the body of water.

Barnstable is the only town which hasn’t ratified the agreement. The town council is expected to address the issue in the near future.

“The agreement leaves it to each town to act independently to determine which combination of management measures it wants to employ that’s best for its community to reduce its share of the nitrogen,” said Andrew Gottlieb, a Mashpee Selectman and executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, a nonprofit which works to preserve, protect and enhance the region’s natural resources.

The agreement also allows for towns to work together.

“One town may agree to pay another town to manage a greater share of the load than it’s responsible for by being paid for by that adjoining community,” Gottlieb said.

“If that ends up being something that saves everybody money.”

Mashpee is responsible for the majority of the excess nitrogen, about three-quarters. Barnstable is responsible for less than 20 percent and Sandwich’s share is just under 10 percent.

“Popponesset, like many of the watersheds, is influenced by activities in not just the town or towns that share frontage on that bay but also further away from the water body,” Gottlieb said.

Each town has autonomy to choose what is best for its community, but they are all working towards a common goal.

“We all will have a schedule that we can rely on that tells us which towns are going to do what over what time frame,” Gottlieb said.

The ultimate goal and indicator of success of the agreement is to return the health and functions to the people who utilize Popponesset Bay.

“It would be a good place to swim, to boat, for shellfishing and recreational fisheries,” Gottlieb said.

If successful the agreement could be used as a template for nitrogen reduction efforts in other bodies of water along the coast of Cape Cod.

By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter

About CapeCod.com NewsCenter

The award-winning CapeCod.com NewsCenter provides the Cape Cod community with a constant, credible source for local news. We are on the job seven days a week.



CapeCod.com
737 West Main Street
Hyannis, MA 02601
Contact Us | Advertise Terms of Use 
Employment and EEO | Privacy