From the Town of Barnstable · June 11, 2025
MassDEP finished its administrative and technical review of Barnstable’s watershed permit application and released a draft permit for public comment, with notice published June 11, 2025. Barnstable had applied on September 1, 2023, under the new watershed permit regulations (314 CMR 21.00), and asked for one permit covering all seven of its watersheds while keeping the 30-year schedule in its comprehensive wastewater plan. Those watersheds include Popponesset Bay, which Barnstable shares with Mashpee and Sandwich, and Three Bays.
Comments or hearing requests were due within 60 days; the state’s comment listing gave August 11, 2025, as the deadline. The town said approval would make Barnstable the first Massachusetts community to receive a watershed permit under the 2023 rules. Falmouth, Mashpee and Sandwich, which have filed notices of intent for Waquoit Bay, have not yet applied for a permit there, so Barnstable’s case is the first test of how MassDEP will set terms under the rules.
Read the town’s notice: “Public Notice: Barnstable Watershed Permit Application” →
This is CPWB’s summary of an official announcement. The full text is published by the Town of Barnstable.
Drafted with AI assistance from the linked source.
