2005-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

i Additionally, hydrodynamic and water quality Report of the modeling conducted by the Estuaries project revealed Waterways Commission that removing the material from the river would have a f slight negative impact on water quality. Given that, and the lack of a suitable upland site,the best recourse To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the appears to be depositing the material in the river in the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee form of islands. To do that requires a mechanical The Waterways Commission meets monthly to dredging approach, and that is expensive if commer- deliberate on waterways-related topics. Our goal is to cial operators are used. We are therefore working with maintain and improve the waterways in Mashpee. To the County Dredge department and the other Cape towns to see if such a capability would be appropriate this end we work with the Harbormaster to oversee for the County. maintenance dredging and plan and manage improve- ment dredging. We also actively support the Town's water Quality Monitoring efforts to improve water quality in our bays. We continued working with Dr. Brian Howes Maintenance Dredging who is analyzing the nutrient problems of the In 2005 the County Dredge dredged the outside Popponesset Bay and Waquoit Bay Systems. In 2005 channel of Popponesset Bay. The inside channel we took samples at several sites in Waquoit Bay and remains in good shape and did not require dredging. Popponesset Bay and their tributaries They placed about 5,500 cubic yards of material on The water samples are analyzed to measure dis- approximately the middle of Popponesset Spit. solved oxygen, salinity, temperature, turbidity, and The purpose of this beach nourishment effort is nutrient levels. to maintain the spit's function as a barrier beach that This monitoring will be an on-going requirement protects the bay from storm action. We did not use the for the indefinite future. Water quality monitoring in booster pump this year to reach the beginning of the both bays is needed to assess continuing degradation spit,but need to plan to annually use the booster capa- and eventually determine what effect wastewater man- j bility, even though it costs more. That way we can agement efforts are having on water quality. replenish the sand near the root of the spit that washes away. That sand migrates along the spit to the north- Public Access east, thus nourishing the entire spit. Members of the waterways met with the According to a report done for the Town in 1982, Harbormaster, Conservation Agent and Assistant placing 3000 cubic yards near the Southwest end of DPW director to discuss erosion control and improved the spit should balance the amount of sand that washes public access at the North end of Riverside Drive in away. Our experience since 1997 indicates that this is Seconsett Island. true. In the past, the bottom of the stairway at Wading Place Road has been suspended one to two feet in the Other Committee Work air due to beach erosion. After two years of not plac- ing the sand at the root of the spit by the stairs, the The Waterways Commission members partici- stairway is again suspended about a foot in the air,thus pate in other Town and County committees as follows: proving the need for annual nourishment. • Gerald J. Daly — Barnstable County Coastal Improvement Dredging Resources Committee Public Access The ongoing project is to obtain permits to . James P. Hanks — County Dredge Advisory dredge the Mashpee River. Since mid 2002, when we Committee found we did not have enough room to de-water the • Timothy Leedham —Mashpee Local Multiple dredged material, we have been investigating other Hazard Community Planning Team { ways to get the job done. )• Paul W. Lumsden — Sewer Commissin I Advisory Committee j 172