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Cape-wide Fertilizer Management District of Critical Planning Concern <br /> Statement of Purpose and Reasons for Acceptance of Nomination <br /> WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 10(d) of the Cape Cod Commission Act("Act"), the Cape Cod <br /> Commission may nominate areas, which are of critical value to Barnstable County to preserve <br /> and maintain, for designation as districts of critical planning concern (DCPC). <br /> WHEREAS, pursuant to Section 10(a) of the Act, areas are of critical value to preserve and <br /> maintain due to, among other things, the presence of significant natural, coastal, and recreational <br /> resources and substantial areas of sensitive ecological conditions. <br /> WHEREAS,pursuant to Section 10(c) of the Act, districts of critical planning concern may <br /> cover areas located in more than one municipality. <br /> WHEREAS, Cape Cod's coastal waterbodies and embayments, watersheds and ponds are <br /> significant, ecologically sensitive resources, and do not follow town boundaries. <br /> WHEREAS, the volume of nitrogen entering Cape Cod's coastal waters and freshwater ponds <br /> has increased over the last several decades as its population has increased. <br /> WHEREAS, excess nitrogen within an embayment can result in eutrophication, significant algae <br /> growth, loss of eelgrass, diminishing shellfisheries, ponds choked with algae, and decreasing <br /> dissolved-oxygen concentrations—occasionally leading to massive fish and shellfish kills, odor, <br /> and frequent violation of water quality standards. <br /> WHEREAS, coastal waterbodies and freshwater ponds around the Cape are showing the stress of <br /> excess nitrogen, with effects that impair their natural functions and their recreational appeal. <br /> WHEREAS, water quality testing for the Massachusetts Estuaries Project has clearly <br /> documented that many of Cape Cod's waterbodies have impaired water quality and ecological <br /> damage due to nitrogen loading in their watersheds. <br /> WHEREAS, a major source of nitrates, a type of nitrogen that may be found in drinking water, is <br /> run-off from fertilizer application into water bodies, which in turn supply the aquifer. <br /> WHEREAS, excess nitrates threaten drinking water resources; <br /> WHEREAS, nitrogen from fertilizer in the groundwater or as runoff is an important and <br /> controllable source of nitrogen loading, with the greatest amount coming from residential <br /> fertilizer use. <br /> WHEREAS, managing fertilizer use, through education, Best Management Practices, and <br /> enforceable regulations, will help towns achieve cost-effective and efficient nitrogen reduction. <br /> 1 <br />