Pleasant Bay Alliance Hopes to Establish Watershed Management District

ORLEANS – The water body surrounded by Orleans, Brewster, Chatham and Harwich is the focus behind an effort to establish a watershed district.

The Pleasant Bay Alliance has submitted a proposal to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to explore different models for watershed and nutrient management at Pleasant Bay.

It seeks nearly $800,000 over four years to see if current programs from each individual affected town and from other towns near critical water bodies could be combined under a singular management program.

Alliance Coordinator Carole Ridley said her organization is in a unique position to guide the effort.

“We have been coordinating the four towns’ involvement in nutrient management for over a decade, so it’s an opportunity for us to identify what functions could happen more cost effectively,” she said.

Ridley said she expects to hear back from the EPA shortly regarding the grant.