Water quality in Cape Cod’s freshwater ponds and lakes is the focus of a strategy document out this month from the Cape Cod Commission.
The report makes recommendations aimed at the region’s 890 freshwater ponds and lakes, informed by a data-driven planning process the commission began in 2022.
One of the project’s key components was developing a regional pond monitoring program.
“That really helped to expand water quality monitoring to 50 representative ponds — monitoring that happens more consistently, on a monthly basis, throughout kind of the spring, summer, and fall seasons,” said Erin Perry, deputy director of the commission.
The 13 recommendations in the report, called the Cape Cod Freshwater Strategy, include:
- Maintain and expand funding for the Regional Pond Monitoring Program;
- Develop a regional funding program for town projects;
- Integrate freshwater ponds into municipal water resource planning;
- Improve consistent communication and outreach for varied pond users; and
- Develop model wetland bylaws and orders of conditions.
The document seeks to turn data into action. It highlights tools that towns and others who seek to protect the ponds can use, such as the Pond Buffer Guidance document, which addresses landscape management practices.
Another tool, the Cape Cod Water Quality Data Portal, which previously focused on marine water, has been expanded to include fresh water. Users can explore water quality trends on a map.
Some strategies are universally beneficial, Perry said, such as managing stormwater runoff to reduce the introduction of pollutants and excess nutrients into lakes and ponds.
Good stormwater management will “not only address freshwater health, but can contribute to coastal water quality health and other challenges that we're facing,” she said.
The report also recommends expanding laboratory capacity to help analyze pond water and reduce travel times for delivering samples.
It suggests Cape Cod could benefit from a regional grant coordinator or other means of cooperation when applying for state and federal grants.
