From the Falmouth Enterprise · May 27, 2025 · By Katie Nelson
A member of Falmouth’s freshwater ponds advisory committee asked the Water Quality Management Committee for guidance on stronger, enforceable limits on lawn fertilizer. Fertilizer runoff adds nitrogen and phosphorus to ponds and bays. The idea is to amend the town’s existing nitrogen bylaw to also cover phosphorus. The current bylaw bans fertilizer within 100 feet of water, but town staff say it is hard to enforce. Nantucket’s registration and licensing system for applicators was offered as a possible model.
Organizers said they want to avoid an outright ban and that any change would need public education. Landscaping industry speakers argued that the state controls fertilizer rules and called for science-based measures. They disputed how much phosphorus reaches ponds. The committee’s chair said the effort was headed in the right direction, but no vote was taken.
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