Topic
Falmouth
Falmouth’s plans, decisions and projects that affect the Waquoit Bay watershed.
-
Did decreases in airborne nitrogen lower the load reaching Buzzards Bay harbors? Eleven estuaries, 1985 to 2018
Across eleven Buzzards Bay watersheds, forests held back over 80% of nitrogen, and less nitrogen falling from the air cut loads to nine of the harbors about 12% after 1996. Water quality…
-
Moonakis River Restoration Study
In 2022, CPWB commissioned a team to develop a plan to bring back the Moonakis River, one of Waquoit Bay’s most polluted tributaries, using better septic systems, plant upgrades and stormwater fixes.
-
Study recommends an open box culvert at Red Brook Road to restore the brook
A feasibility study recommends replacing the failing Red Brook Road culvert with an 8-foot box culvert and raising the road, keeping the brook free-flowing for fish and wildlife.
-
Falmouth boards critique MassDEP’s proposed septic and watershed permit rules
Falmouth health and water quality officials questioned MassDEP’s draft choice between I/A septic upgrades at 14,000 homes and 20-year watershed permits.
-
Brook trout return to the Upper Childs River after bog restoration
A state survey counted 67 wild brook trout in the restored Upper Childs River in 2022, up from none at the site in 2020, after the Falmouth Rod & Gun Club’s bog…
-
Consultant documents long-term erosion of the Washburn Island spit at the Eel River inlet
A consultant found the Washburn Island spit at the Eel River inlet has moved more than 1,000 feet since 1890, narrowing the channel and speeding up currents.
-
Can Red Brook run free again? The 2022 feasibility study for the Red Brook Road culvert
Engineers found the old cranberry-bog dam under Red Brook Road in poor shape and showed that a larger box culvert would let fish pass, reconnect the brook and make the road more…
-
CPWB asks Falmouth and Mashpee to make the Red Brook fix cut nitrogen too
After the old dam under Red Brook Road failed, CPWB urged both towns to choose a repair that also reduces the nitrogen flowing into Hamblin Pond and Waquoit Bay.
-
CPWB brings Waquoit Bay’s decline to Falmouth’s water quality committee
CPWB members pressed Falmouth to prioritize Waquoit Bay as a researcher presented 20 years of data showing rising nitrogen, lost eelgrass, falling oxygen and more acidic water.
-
Does restoring old cranberry bogs cut a river’s nitrogen? Early data from the Coonamessett, 2018–2021
Woodwell scientist Chris Neill tracked the Coonamessett River after its bogs were restored. In the first three years, flows rose, nitrate kept building downstream, and the river carried 13,000–20,000 kg of nitrogen…
-
Falmouth drafts a nitrogen-sharing agreement with Mashpee and Sandwich for Waquoit Bay
Falmouth circulated a draft agreement with Mashpee and Sandwich to divide responsibility for cutting nitrogen in Waquoit Bay, including a way to trade nitrogen credits.
-
Do sewers clean up the groundwater right away? USGS watches a Falmouth neighborhood switch off its septic systems
When about 1,400 Falmouth properties near Little Pond were connected to sewers, the groundwater beneath them began to improve, but USGS found no clear drop yet in nitrogen flowing toward the pond…
