2006-Annual Town Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

These areas will be covered by an MEP report for Report of the Waquoit Bay, Childs River and Eel River which will Sewer Commission be undertaken by the Town of Falmouth with the assis- tance of $23,625 in Mashpee funds approved by the October 2006 Town Meeting. To the Honorable Board of Selectmen and the Citizens of the Town of Mashpee: Now that TMDLs for most of our watersheds have been determined, our engineering consultant, 2006 saw work begun in earnest on the Stearns &Wheler,LLC (S&W),has resumed work on i Commission's Watershed Nitrogen Management Plan the WNMP. Using 2001 and "buildout" land use and i /Effluent Pipeline Preliminary Design (WNMP) pro- population data provided for each parcel in Mashpee 1 ject, intended to identify the most cost-effective by the Town Planner, and water use data collected from the Mashpee Water District, S&W's first work approach to reducing nitrogen in each of our coastal i watersheds to levels that do not harm the bays. item was development and GIS mapping of waste water nitrogen loading, and loading per acre,by parcel and for the Town's 158 "Planning Zones". That work, Under the Commonwealth's Massachusetts Estuaries Program (MEP), the U-Mass Dartmouth completed in October, led to completion in December School of Marine Science and Technology(SMaST)is of the first major project report, a "Draft Needs � modeling nitrogen loading and pathways, and estab- lishing nitrogen loading targets, for all estuaries in year ended by the Sewer Commission and the mem. 1 southeastern Massachusetts. Popponesset Bay was hers of our Citizens Advisory Committee. The report analyzes existing environmental resources and demo one of the first estuaries to be studied,due to the exten- 1 ollue t b SMaST graphics, existing wastewater infrastructure, waste- sive data that had previously been c y loading,and nitro flen owc under contract to the Town,with the help of a group of waterg g' development of dedicated volunteers. The MEP report for the wastewater nitrogen priority areas, a summary of Popponesset Bay watershed was delivered in needs and a discussion of funding opportunities. s Completion of the remainder of the Plan is scheduled September 2004. The Quashnet River / Hamblin for 2007. Pond/Jehu Pond MEP watershed report was released 1 t in July 2005. The recommendations from these Under a grant from Barnstable County, S&W i reports were incorporated by the Mass. Department of and the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) previously i Environmental Protection (DEP) into reports setting identified potential discharge sites for treated waste- formal nitrogen targets, called "TMDLs" (Total Maximum Daily Loads) for each of the sub-embay- water, appropriate discharge technologies for each site, and their capacity and suitability and modeled ments of our estuaries. TMDLs are required by the � federal Clean Water Act, and the DEP TMDL reports their potential impact on groundwater levels and downstream water quality. Seven sites and combina- have been submitted for approval to the U.S Environmental Protection Agency. The TMDL report tions of sites, as well as the discharge sites of existing 1 for Popponesset Bay was finalized and sent to EPA in private sewage treatment plants, were analyzed. The ; resulting mapping, time-of-travel information and 1 August 2005. EPA required changes that have been water quality results are being used in planning our incorporated into a revised TMDL report. The final draft of the Quashnet River / Hamblin's Pond / Jehu wastewater facilities and in proposing reservation of i certain Town lands for use as discharge sites. Undera Pond TMDL report was sent to EPA in January 2006. ` second County grant, S&W developed an evaluation Also delivered in 2006 was the MEP report for the raw of the available sewage collection technologies(g Three Bays watershed, which lies primarily in it sewers, low pressure sewers, "STEP" systems and Barnstable but includes a small portion of Mashpee vacuum sewers), developed computerized sewer sys east of Santuit Pond, and a December 28, 2006 draft tem design models and used the models to demon TMDL report for Three Bays. Once approved by rte potential sewers stem configurations for the EPA, the TMDLs will be incorporated into the state st a p y g Popponesset Bay watershed designed to meet the regulatory process, as required by the Clean Water Act, and the Town will be faced with the need to iden- TMDL targets. tify how we will meet those targets. Both reports highlight our need to identify and The only remaining portion of Mashpee not cov- reserve parcels of land for sewage pumping stations, ered by an MEP report is the extreme western part of treatment plants and discharge areas, as well as the the town, including most of the Johns Pond Estates, major costs that will be involved in sewering the town. Mashpee has serious work cut out for it over the next { Winslow Farms and Childs River West subdivisions. p e,Ics few years to identify funding and financing stratt E y 118