News
Town votes, watershed plans, CPWB projects and events, newest first.
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After the 2025 filing deadline, Bourne faces costly work on its watershed permits
Bourne beat the state’s July 2025 deadline by filing a notice of intent, but its leaders expect permitting costs to run well over $300,000.
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USGS finds small groundwater effects from sewering; Oyster Pond culvert advances
Falmouth’s water quality committee heard USGS modeling showing minor aquifer effects from expanded sewers and an ocean outfall, plus progress on restoring tidal flow at Oyster Pond.
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Washburn Island and South Cape Beach closed to swimming in early July 2025 as bacteria closures rise
Falmouth’s Washburn Island and Mashpee’s South Cape Beach were among 34 Massachusetts beaches closed to swimming in early July 2025, most of them for high bacteria.
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State divers map eelgrass seed supply on the Cape to prepare for large-scale replanting
Marine Fisheries is surveying when and how densely wild eelgrass meadows produce seed, a first step toward restoring lost meadows at a much larger scale.
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CPWB fills Town Hall to press Falmouth for interim action on Waquoit Bay
CPWB members packed a June 25, 2025 water quality committee meeting on the bay’s algal mats and asked for steps that won’t wait for sewers.
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MassDEP drafts Barnstable permit, the first under the 2023 watershed rules
MassDEP released a draft watershed permit for all seven Barnstable watersheds, including Popponesset Bay. It would be the first issued under the 2023 regulations.
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$416,000 state grant funds Falmouth urine-diversion pilot in Waquoit and Great Pond areas
MassDEP awarded $416,000 to the state septic test center to run a two-year pilot of 25 urine-diverting systems in Falmouth’s impaired watersheds.
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Early, thick algal mats in Waquoit Bay prompt calls for faster nitrogen action
Researchers and neighbors reported unusually early, dense algal mats in Waquoit Bay this spring, and CPWB asked Falmouth to speed up nitrogen-reduction work.
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Mashpee updates Red Brook culvert, Johns Pond milfoil and Santuit fish passage work
Mashpee conservation staff reported progress on a $2.2 million Red Brook Road culvert, renewed milfoil treatment at Johns Pond and a new Santuit Pond fish passage.
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After early algal mats, CPWB asks Falmouth to move faster on Waquoit Bay
After thick algal mats spread across Waquoit Bay in May 2025, CPWB urged Falmouth’s Water Quality Management Committee to act well before sewers arrive, and sent nine specific recommendations.
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Falmouth explores broader, enforceable fertilizer limits to protect water
Falmouth’s Water Quality Management Committee endorsed early work to expand the town’s fertilizer bylaw to cover phosphorus and make the rules easier to enforce.
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Nine years after sewers, Little Pond’s nitrogen is down about 65 percent
Monitoring of Falmouth’s Little Pond shows nitrogen falling close to its state target since sewering began in 2016, with eelgrass expanding and fewer zero-oxygen zones.
