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adjacent to the Transfer Station that is the most likely Report of the candidate for our initial municipal wastewater treat. Sewer Commission ment plant and discharge area. The Commission also reviewed town-wide draft proposals regarding three alternative collection system technologies, including To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and Citizens low-pressure grinder pump systems,low-pressure sep• of the Town of Mashpee: tic tank effluent pump systems and vacuum systems, 2011 saw further progress on the Commission's in our effort to reduce the potential cost of the sewer systems that will be necessary to meet the nitrogen tar. Watershed Nitrogen Management Plan (WNMP), gets set by DEP and EPA for our estuaries. We are with work completed on three plan options, focused also following closely the studies being done in on finding appropriate discharge areas for treated Falmouth and other places regarding alternatives to wastewater and identifying how the towns in the Popponesset and Waquoit Bay watersheds can share sewers, although, to date, none has demonstrated its the responsibility for their cleanup. Those options feasibility at the scale required to meet our mandated nitrogen targets. have been forwarded to UMass-Dartmouth for testing with the Massachusetts Estuaries Program (MEP) The MEP report and draft nitrogen targets for the models of the Popponesset and"East Waquoit"water- main body of Waquoit Bay, jointly funded by sheds. As reported in previous years, the Falmouth and Mashpee (Mashpee Town Meeting pro. Massachusetts Department of Environmental vided 25%, or$23,625, of the MEP report costs),was Protection (DEP) MEP modeled nitrogen loading and completed by UMass-Dartmouth and is currently pathways,and established nitrogen loading targets,for undergoing review by DEP prior to release to the pub- both the Popponesset Bay (including Shoestring Bay, lic. This will provide a clearer picture of what we may Mashpee River, Ockway Bay, Popponesset Creek and need to do regarding nitrogen loads from the Johns Pinquikset Cove) and "East Waquoit" (including Pond Estates, Winslow Farms and Childs River West Sedge Lot Pond, Jehu Pond, Great and Little Rivers, subdivisions and Katrina Lane. Hamblin Pond and the Quashnet / Moonakis River) estuaries. The recommendations from these reports As part of the expansion of the "Breezy Acres" were used by DEP to set formal nitrogen targets, the affordable housing development on Old Barnstable TMDLs (total maximum allowed daily loads of nitro- Road, the Commission is taking on responsibility for gen), for each of our estuaries. TMDLs, enforced by Mashpee's first public sewer line, connecting the DEP, are required by the federal Clean Water Act, and development to the Mashpee High School wastewater the DEP TMDL reports have been approved by EPA treatment plant. The Commission established a rate under the Act. The Town is faced with the need to and management agreement for the project, which is determine how we will meet those targets. The scheduled to be built in the spring of 2012. WNMP project is intended to identify the most cost- effective approach to reducing nitrogen in each of our Our primary consultant GHD and its sub-consul- coastal watersheds to levels that meet the targets. tant Regina Villa Associates, working with Based on the results of the current round of MEP mod- Commissioner Jack Malarkey and Community eling and a review of capital and long-term operating Advisory Committee member Beverly Kane, contin- costs, management issues and public acceptance, ued development and implementation of a public infor- selection of a final plan will be done and a final draft mation program regarding our nitrogen problem and of the WNMP, assuming a reasonable turnaround time the WNMP. The first result of that work was the estab- on the MEP model review and no further unexpected lishment of the website, www mashpeewaters.com, delays, will be drafted for submission to DEP, MEPA which explains the nitrogen problem, the WNMP and and the Cape Cod Commission for approval by the where our work stands. The site includes links to all end of 2012. the documents generated as part of the WNMP as well as the MEP reports for our estuaries and other web Aside from identifying likely discharge areas, sites dealing with the nitrogen issue. This year the including some new concepts and locations incorpo- group developed an information kiosk and brochures rated into the three options,our consultants completed available at Town Hall and the Mashpee Library to a full hydrogeologic investigation of a 10 acre site keep Mashpee residents informed on the issue and our 158