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and the State, all, except the Town, primary land Report of the owners of the Popponesset Spit. Waterways Commission Some of these dredge projects are done by what is called a"short haul dredge" (less than 4,000 feet of To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the pipe) and some are done as "long haul dredge" (over Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: 4,000 feet of pipe). A booster barge is required for the "long haul"projects as the Booster is required to propel The Waterways Commission presently meets on the sediment down the dredge pipe for longer distances. a monthly basis to deliberate on Waterways related topics. Our goal is to maintain and improve the The Inner Channel project is performed as a waterways and strive to improve water quality and "short haul"dredge and the sediment gets deposited on safety of boaters on the bays,lakes,ponds and rivers in the Spit. The Approach Channel dredge is a "long Mashpee. To this end we work with the Harbormaster haul"dredge and the sediment is also deposited on the and the Shellfish Constable(both presently a part of the Spit. Mashpee Police Department) to oversee improvement dredging, maintenance dredging, public access and In Popponesset Bay,a sand delta formed over the plan and manage our Town dredging projects. years and started its drift toward Cotuit Meadows. The result was the channel known as the 1916 Channel We have also assumed the management role of (originally dredged in 1916)became very shallow and the Water Quality measurement and testing program in required a maintenance dredge. A more recent concert with the Town,the Tribe and SMAST with Dr. maintenance dredge was performed in 1936 so we had Brian Howes. This is an all volunteer testing program, to find documentation of that project in the State and we are always looking for peoples to volunteer Archives to enable the Town to do a maintenance their time to assist this effort. The Program has become dredge of the Channel. We found a copy of the dredge a model for communities in the Commonwealth. contract,issued by the State,which enabled us to get a (Contact Mr. Don MacDonald, Vice Chairman of the maintenance dredge permit from the COE (Corps of Mashpee Waterways Commission,Project Manager of Engineers) for this much needed dredge project. That the Water Quality Testing Program, with your project was completed with a long haul dredge in Fiscal interests). This testing program is an ongoing project 2010. The sediment was pumped to the Spit. A follow and should continue well into the future. The Town up maintenance dredge was performed in December of benefits from the data/reports generated as they play an 2012 (Fiscal 2013). important role in our Mashpee Water Quality program. Improvement Dredging The Waterways Commission works in concert We resumed work three years ago on the with the Town to update rules and regulations,assist in engineering portion of an improvement dredge of the Public Access improvements to Waterways and Mashpee River Entrance and River. This effort has participates in the review process of the future DNR been underway for a number of years and the disposal department,expected to be formally established during process of the sediment has been the Town's major the upcoming May 2016 Town Meeting. hurdle. Our efforts to get this done should improve the flushing effects of tidal changes on the River and Maintenance Dredging improve safe boating on the River. Our dredging efforts in Fiscal 2015 were consumed by the dredging of the various Channels of Since finding a location for sediment disposal is Popponesset Bay. proving to be very difficult for Mashpee and all Cape and Island Towns, it should be noted that with the A typical maintenance dredge of the Approach dredging of the 1916 Channel in the Bay,the flushing Channel to Popponesset produces 5,000 or more cubic of Popponesset Bay has improved. The Water Quality yards of sediment that gets deposited on the test data from the summer of 2011 and subsequent Popponesset Spit. The Spit is owned and managed in years have shown a slight improvement in the southern a close relationship with the Town by organizations part of the Bay. We note that the clarity of water in the named Save Popponesset Bay,The Audubon Society Bay has improved and hopefully future test results will 159