Following is the last in a series on the Town of Barnstable’s  Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan. Let your voice be heard: come to one of the town’s open meetings for public comment about the Plan.

Stormwater Upgrade
The Town’s program will identify and provide solutions to 207 existing stormwater outfalls, one of which is located in the Popponesset Bay Watershed. The Town’s Public Road program invests on average $750,000 a year in stormwater improvements to public roads.  These improvements generally include replacement of failed catch basins and leaching structures.  A joint Mashpee-Barnstable project will replace the culvert that conveys Santuit River (a significant freshwater tributary to Popponesset Bay Watershed) under Old Kings Road. As part of this project the Town will install new stormwater infrastructure to address runoff that discharges directly into the river. This new stormwater system will include deep sump catch basins and infiltration structures that will reduce total suspended solids, bacteria, and nutrient directly discharging to the River.

Dredging
The Town is not proposing any dredging within the Town’s portion of the Popponesset Bay embayment.  Most of Popponesset navigational channels are located within the Town of Mashpee’s jurisdiction.  Mashpee performs ongoing maintenance dredging within the embayment.  The 2004 MEP report modeled a dredging alternative within the embayment and showed negligible impacts on nutrients in the embayment.

Fertilizer Regulation
In 2014 the Town adopted a Fertilizer Nitrogen and Phosphorus Control Regulation that provides best management practices and performance standards for non-certified fertilizer applicators; outlines education, certification, enforcement and penalties; and enables a Watershed Permit (in concert with Mashpee and Sandwich)

Future Development

• The majority of the watershed is significantly built-out
• Projected growth within the watershed is focused on the Route 28 corridor and will be addressed with traditional solutions (i.e. sewer expansion).
• Projected growth in these areas will be considered when sizing sewer infrastructure (pipes, pump stations, force mains, etc.).
• New developments within the watershed would be required to connect to sewer
• The sewer expansion staging plan removes more septic load than required within the watershed, specifically within the Santuit River sub-watershed and the Pinquickset Cove sub-watershed to substantially address any additional development that may be experienced in the watershed

The Time to Act is Now!
The cost of doing nothing is steep: Our public drinking water supplies may become too polluted to drink (without significant on-site filtration & treatment), our waterways will be too polluted to safely accommodate recreational activities and too acrid to be outdoors.  Our beaches will no longer attract tourists, our estuaries will collapse leading to massive aquatic life loss and our housing values will fall precipitously.  No one will want to live on or visit the Cape taking with it, jobs and livelihoods.  Read the Cape Cod Commission’s report.