State Report Sounds Alarm over High Levels of Nitrogen in Falmouth Ponds


On the heels of the Nitrogen Isotope Analysis Project on the Vineyard comes more distressing news relating to nitrogen loading from across Vineyard Sound. Readers may recall that the results from the NIAP, a study of shellfish and eelgrass conducted last summer, showed that the primary reason for the decline in water quality in Lake Tashmoo, Lagoon and Sengekontacket ponds is nitrogen coming from septic systems.

Now, in Falmouth, a state report calls for a reduction in nitrogen loading to three area estuaries by up to 86 percent to improve the water quality of local ponds, the Cape Cod Times reported on Feb. 28. The report was a co-effort by MA Department of Environmental Protection, the town of Falmouth and the MA Estuaries Project (a partnership of researchers at DEP and UMass-Darthmouth). The estuaries project, which the Vineyard is a part of, found that 77 percent of the nitrogen loading to the Falmough watershed studied in the report was caused by septic system discharge. The estuaries project is looking at a dozen water bodies in Falmouth and nearly a hundred more across the Cape. The program looks at each water body separately then the DEP develops a target level of nitrogen that can be absorbed by it daily.

"There is not one magic number for the Cape and the Islands," said Michael Ackerman, an environmental analyst with the DEP's Division of Watershed Management. "We're telling the communities this water body is impaired. Then it becomes the community's responsibility."

In Falmouth, the report set a target of 0.27 to 18 kilograms of nitrogen daily; reaching that level would mean reducing the daily nitrogen load by at least half. State officials said it is in the best interest of Cape communities to heed their advice, since Cape towns rely on the health of their watersheds economically and for quality of life. [align=center][b]

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