Topic
Falmouth
Falmouth’s plans, decisions and projects that affect the Waquoit Bay watershed.
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Newsletter: December 2021
Falmouth puts three road-runoff outfalls on its repair list, a new CPWB committee explores floating wetlands, and Win Munro asks whether eelgrass can be restored in Waquoit Bay now. Plus the Upper…
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Waquoit Bay marsh sediments record seven decades of microplastic pollution
Researchers found microplastics in every Waquoit Bay salt marsh they sampled, increasing since about 1950 and climbing fastest in the developed Childs River watershed.
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Eel River oyster farm pilot removes nitrogen in its first year
Falmouth’s three-site oyster aquaculture pilot in the Eel River system removed an estimated 74 kilograms of nitrogen in its first season despite pandemic sales losses.
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East Falmouth researcher seeks national landmark status for Washburn Island
A longtime East Falmouth researcher is pursuing National Historic Landmark status for Washburn Island, the World War II amphibious training site that is now state parkland.
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Falmouth explores using Waquoit Bay dredge spoils to build up reserve marshes
Falmouth’s Waterways Committee weighed placing sediment from a planned Waquoit Bay dredging on reserve salt marshes or Washburn Island instead of hauling it away.
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Federal mooring rule threatens summer shellfishing in parts of Waquoit Bay and Eel River
A federal shellfish sanitation rule for busy mooring fields could close parts of Waquoit Bay and Eel River East to shellfishing from May to mid-November each year.
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CPWB points to road runoff draining straight into the Quashnet, Childs and Red Brook
CPWB’s chairman showed where road drains empty directly into the Quashnet and Childs rivers and Red Brook, and asked both towns to keep runoff out of Waquoit Bay.
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Can cutting nitrogen ease coastal acidification? Buzzards Bay harbors where shellfish water turned corrosive
In Buzzards Bay harbors, more nitrogen meant more acidic water. West Falmouth Harbor’s inner station stayed at or below the shell-dissolving threshold all year. Modeled nitrogen cuts could raise the worst harbors’…
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What is Falmouth’s plan to cut nitrogen in its estuaries, Waquoit Bay included? A 2019 progress report on sewers, oysters and septic pilots
Falmouth’s December 2019 plan update found all five south-coast estuaries, Waquoit Bay among them, still nitrogen-impaired, and reported on sewers, oysters and septic pilots. For Waquoit Bay, planning still waits on a…
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West Falmouth Harbor is still waiting for the nitrogen plume from its old sewage plant to clear
Twelve years after Falmouth upgraded its West Falmouth treatment plant, nitrogen in the harbor hasn’t dropped. Monitoring wells show the old plume moving out slowly, because groundwater travels slower than predicted.
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Is poor flushing to blame for the Moonakis River’s algae? A 2017 look at tides, nitrogen and oysters
A 2017 SMAST memo found tides still flush the Quashnet/Moonakis River about as well as in 2003, so dredging alone won’t fix it. More nitrogen was arriving from upstream, and test oysters…
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How badly is Waquoit Bay overloaded with nitrogen, and who has to cut it? The Cape Cod Commission’s four-page watershed summary
The Cape Cod Commission rates Waquoit Bay’s water threat “high”: about 75% of the controllable nitrogen comes from septic systems, and the plan’s scenario calls for cutting total nitrogen 53% and septic…
