Pleasant Bay
HYANNIS – The Association to Preserve Cape Cod has released its fifth-annual “State of the Waters” report.
APCC executive director Andrew Gottlieb says Cape Cod continues to experience a high number of coastal embayments and freshwater ponds with unacceptable water quality.
The Association has long-linked the water woes to excessive nutrients from inadequately-treated wastewater in septic systems, as well as stormwater runoff and fertilizers.
The report acknowledges that some towns have recently ramped up efforts to reverse the impacts from decades of nutrient pollution, and Gottlieb says that “yes” votes are needed on an “unprecedented” number of water quality improvement projects at town meetings in the spring.
Among those that received an unacceptable grade was Pleasant Bay. As Massachusetts enforces stricter regulations for nitrogen removal on the Cape, it’s been five years since the commonwealth granted a first-of-its-kind “watershed permit” for the management of the Pleasant Bay watershed to Brewster, Chatham, Harwich and Orleans.
On the other hand, the State of the Waters is continuing to give high marks for the quality of the Cape’s public water supply.
By Jim McCabe, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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