1996-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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0 0- - M I- Refuge.The Commission wishes to thank the voters of set limits which will mitigate the cumulative deterio. Mashpee and the Board of Selectmen for their com- ration of water quality and loss of wildlife habitat, mitment to the Refuge effort. Especially to be com- mended is selectman George Costa for his unflagging 1996 saw a significant change in the Massachusetts efforts and skilled shepherding so vital to the realiza- Wetlands Protection Act;after many years of failing to tion of the Refuge. Without the Refuge, water quality pass the Mass. House and Senate, a"Rivers Bill' was and wildlife habitat in the southern part of Mashpee finally enacted. The provisions of the "Rivers Bill" would become another chapter in the sad story of lost became the"Rivers Protection Act",which was incor. opportunity and degraded natural resources. porated into the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act (administered by this Commission). Under this The Commission was also pleased to acquire the law, an area 200 feet from rivers (including tidal harding property,adding to our acreage at John's Pond , rivers) is protected as a "Riverfront Area". This "Riverfront Area" is to be left undisturbed, if at all Park. The 2.72 acre parcel was purchased for the appraised value of$16, 380 using monies provided by possible. When there is no alternative to work in this the Town's cranberry bogs. In 1996, the bogs pro- 200-foot zone,there are strict limitations as to scope of duced another $23, 300 for the Town's use. These alterations. Generally, standards call for keeping dis. turbance as far from the River's edge as possible.The monies are used for Conservation land purchases and improvements (such as the fiber-roll/planting bank commission was pleased to see these provisions enact stabilization that was done on the upper Mashpee ed into law; they are based on volumes of scientific River). evidence and will help to preserve water-quality,fish- eries, shellfish and wildlife habitat. The new Rivers Another series of land acquisitions provided valu- Protection provisions do, however, double the Com able land for wildlife habitat and open space.The heirs mission's jurisdictional area (around rivers) and of Eloise Otis generously donated 3 parcels: 10.4 increases our workload. acres, 16.7 acres and .87 acre for the cost of the i appraisals, only $1, 500. the 10.4 acre parcel is within As was noted by many (and as reported in newspa- the Mashpee Pine Barrens Area, a unique ecosystem per accounts), the conditions of the lower Mashpee the type of which has declined greatly in area along the River and upper Popponesset Bay continues to deteri orate with algal blooms and associated ecosystem dis- New England coastal floodplain. t ruption continuing to worsen. The chief causative In our agent is nitrogren from human sources, m continuing attempts to keep Mashpee's Wet- ore than half lands Protection Bylaw (Chapter 172) as one of the emanating from septic systems. Unfortunately,Mash most effective in the Commonwealth, two regulatory pee's two major bays, Popponesset and Waquoit,are improvements were adopted this past year. One was constituted such that they are the most impacted of any the development of lawn-size and fertilizer-use others on Cape Cod. Both have very large watersheds requirements, aimed at slowing the degradation of that"inherit"the nitrate plumes from every household water-quality already occurring because of too much septic system within their respective watersheds.That nitrogen entering our coastal waters.The lawn/fertiliz- unfortunate condition is compounded by the fact that er regulation was developed with the input of turf both have narrow inlets/outlets, thus reducing the experts and was reviewed by the staff of the Buzzards amount of nutrient-laden water that is flushed with Bay Project - which will be added to their model each tidal cycle. bylaws that they advocate throughout the towns bor- dering Buzzards Bay.The second improvement to pro- Though the"Rivers Protection Act" will help some tective measures was the development of guidelines (additional natural vegetation does help to filter pollu for limited removal of vegetation in the naturally veg- tants/nutrients from overland flow), it does help to fil- etated areas adjacent to wetlands and waterbodies. ter pollutants/nutrients from overland flow), it does These areas, protected under Ch.172, have been not address (subsurface) septic system contributions. proven by numerous scientific studies to be vital to With groundwater traveling 1-1.5 feet a day and some wildlife habitat and attenuation of pollution. In devel- of the watershed's septic systems being ten's of thou oping these guidelines, the Commission based them sands of feet from the bays,it takes years for any given on recommendations of the Rhode Island Coastal "slug" of pollution to reach an embayment.Put anoth- Resources Management Council, with refinements er way, the worst pollution is still "on the way"and based upon our experiences with vegetation-removal hasn't yet impacted us. The prognosis, if we do 110th' in Mashpee. ing, is for far worse effects to manifest themselves. That is why the Commission joined the Mashpee Both measures (lawn regulations and Vista-pruning Environmental Coalition in requesting that the Board Policy) are emblematic of our attempts to balance of Selectmen explore the possibility of nominating the legitimate home-owner wishes(for example,to have a Mashpee-River/Poponesset Bay watershed as a Dis- lawn and a view of the water),yet,at the same time,to trict of Critical Planning Concern(DCPC)to the Cape 122