1997-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

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Once again we would like to thank the Board of about river conditions, how flushing would be Selectmen and the people of Mashpee for their contin- improved by dredging, and what measures could be ued support of our work. taken, other than dredging, to reduce the amount of nutrients entering into the system. Respectfully submitted, The Mashpee Historical Commission In support of the Mashpee Watershed Committee, Rosemary H. Burns we worked with Dr. Brian Howes on analysis of the Frank E. Hicks Popponesset Bay System over a 6 week period to James F. Moroney determine if the waterways are suffering from oxygen Gordon L. Peters starvation. To augment the data gathered by automat- Ann M. Whitlow ed devices, Rick York, Shellfish Constable; Ken Joanne Ferragamo, Chairman Molloy of Cotuit;and Jim Hanks,Herb Silver, and Bill Taylor of the Waterways Commission took water sam- ples once a week to measure dissolved oxygen, salini- ty, temperature, and turbidity. The results showed that P Oxygen starvation does occur in the upper reaches of Waterways Commission the Mashpee River and that it is caused by excess nutrients which produce the excess plant life that robs the oxygen from the water as it decays. This informa- To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and tion will be used to support our arguments for dredg- the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee ing to improve water quality. The Waterways Commission had a successful year. To further determine the characteristics of the Our activities are summarized below: Popponesset Bay system, we arranged for the County Dredge Superintendent Wayne Jaedtke to use his Maintenance Dredging sophisticated electronic survey equipment to do a Bathymetric survey of Popponesset Bay,Ockway Bay, In March the County Dredge came to Waquoit Bay Shoestring Bay and the Mashpee River. The data and dredged the channel at the mouth of Little River gathered were printed out as contour lines and traverse and Great River. In addition to restoring the naviga- lines showing depths, and was provided to us on diskettes for further manipulation. This information, tional channel, the dredged materials were put on South Cape Beach to replenish the eroding shoreline. along with the bathymetry data gathered "before" and The result is a nice stretch of sandy beach that people "after" the maintenance dredging will be used to enjoyed this past summer. There is also hope that design the channels to be dredged in the Mashpee Piping Plovers will use the area for nesting. River. Water Quality/New Dredging In November we started the process of getting Aubrey Consulting Inc. to analyze the new informa- We continued to develop our Waterways tion and several proposed channel configurations to Improvement Plan, including building the case for help us determine the extent of dredging required. dredging the Mashpee River to improve flushing by tidal action and to improve navigation. We showed Federal No Discharge Area Designation representatives from Mass Coastal Zone Management At the request of the Mashpee Watershed and Mass Division of Marine Fisheries what the situa- tion is in Popponesset Bay, and informally received a Committee, we researched how to apply to the U.S. favorable reaction to our proposal to build new marsh- Environmental Protection Agency for a No Discharge es or islands with the dredged material. On the other Area Designation for the Popponesset Bay Area. This hand, we had a setback when we discussed our pro- designation makes it illegal to dump treated or untreat- posals with the Army Corps of Engineers. We showed ed boat waste (sewage) within the designated area. As representatives from the Army Corps, Environmental it is now, it is legal to dump treated boat waste in such j Protection Agency, and Federal Marine fisheries vari- an area. Even though that is a very rare occurrence in ous parts of Ockway Bay and the Mashpee River. practice, the rationale (as it was for the Waquoit Bay They were quite taken with the abundance of life in the Area) is that such a designation would help sensitize marsh edges, and in effect vetoed the concept of abut- people to the need to keep the water as clean as we ting dredged material to the marsh edge as it would can. No discharge area status is marked on the NOAA damage an already productive environment. In their navigation charts to warn boaters, Signs are erected, response to our letter,they requested more information and enforcement is possible. As it is now,even though Mashpee has a bylaw prohibiting dumping of sewage 151