Public Works Department

Glossary
Acronyms
Figures

Centerville River/East Bay Nutrient TMDL Report

Ecosystem changes are occurring all along the Cape Cod coastline including in Barnstable. These changes are occurring due to input of nutrients, particularly nitrogen, which is decreasing the water quality and health of our embayments (Figure 1) . On Cape Cod, the primary source of nitrogen is in the wastewater leaching from septic systems with storm water runoff, lawn fertilizer leaching and atmospheric deposition also contributing to the problem. Some of our embayments are showing signs of eutrophication including loss of eelgrass, fisheries habitat and shellfish beds. While eutrophication impacts the ecology of the entire embayment, it is not irreversible. However there are few easy fixes.

The Department of Environmental Protection has recognized the importance of reversing this long term decline of our coastal embayments by recently launching the Estuaries Project, a collaborative effort between EOEA, DEP, SMAST, CCC, USGS and the Cape towns. The purpose of the Project is to provide accurate information on and management tools for evaluating alternatives for managing nitrogen and bacterial inputs into the embayments. The Project will assess embayment health, identify site-specific issues relating to nutrient sources and tidal flushing and develop hydrodynamic and water quality models to determine both “best case” and future embayment health (Figure 2). Critical to the success of the Estuaries Project is the availability of long-term water quality data in each of our embayments.

The Town of Barnstable has recently instituted a volunteer water quality sampling program to collect the necessary data. Trained citizen volunteers are mobilized to collect the essential water quality samples and data. The volunteers typically sample mid-week twice a month during the summer months early in the morning at one or two stations. Some stations can be sampled from docks and piers while others need to be sampled from a boat. The sampling usually takes about two hours. Samples are delivered to the Barnstable Water Pollution Control Facility (WPCF) and then transported to SMAST for analysis.

Using the data generated by the citizen volunteers as well as using the results from the Estuaries Project, the Town will develop and implement its Nutrient Management Plan
(Figure 3) for improving water quality in the coastal embayments. All reasonable alternatives for improving water quality will be explored including dredging to improve embayment flushing, enhancing the treatment and effluent disposal at the WPCF, requiring Title 5 plus septic systems or retrofitting existing systems. It is expected that this program will be implemented over a number of years and citizen input solicited at public hearings and meetings as well as via a Citizen Advisory Committee.

Glossary  Return To Fact Sheet

Aerobic – Processes or conditions occurring in the presence of oxygen.

Algal Bloom – A rapid and noticeable increase in the amount of algae in a body of water.

Anaerobic – Processes or conditions occurring in the absence of oxygen.

Anoxia – Literally means “without oxygen.” A condition in which a parcel of water loses all dissolved oxygen.

Bacterial Contamination – Excess amounts of bacteria typically caused by wastewater discharges.

Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) – A common measure of the organic material in water that can be readily oxidized through microbial decomposition, consuming oxygen dissolved in water.

Coastal Embayment – Small bay that empties into a larger bay or any coastal water body.

Denitrification – Biological conversion of nitrate, plant available nitrogen, to nitrogen gas.

Dissolved Oxygen (DO) – amount of life sustaining oxygen in water. The concentration of DO is affected by water temperature, salinity, amount of algal photosynthesis, amount of respiration of plankton and other organisms and the decay of organic matter.

Drainage Basin – Land area that surrounds a body of water and contributes fresh water from streams and groundwater to that body of water.

Dredging – The removal of materials including rocks, sediment, debris and sand from the bottom of a body of water.

Ecosystem – Group of organisms, plants and animals, that exists in the same community within an identifiable physical and hydrologic region.

Ecological Assessment - Evaluation of the overall health of a community of plants and animals within a defined area.

Effluent Disposal – Discharge of treated wastewater back to the environment.

Embayments – Small bay or small semi-enclosed coastal water body whose opening to a larger body of water is restricted.

Environmental Stress – Impact of pollutant on the natural environment.

Estuary – Semi-enclosed body of water having a free connection with the ocean and within which seawater is measurably diluted with fresh water.

Estuaries Project – Collaborative project between DEP , SMAST and regional entities to evaluate the environmental health of Cape Cod estuaries for the purpose of making nutrient management decisions.

Eutrophication – Process of ecosystem change in response to nutrient enrichment. Symptoms of eutrophication include algal blooms, reduced water clarity, periods of hypoxia and a shift towards species adapted to these conditions.

Fecal Coliform – Bacteria that are present in the intestines and feces of warm-blooded animals. They are typically used as indicators of  pollution from wastewater.

Flushing Time – Time for a pollutant entering a water body to be removed from that water body by natural forces such as tides and currents.

Groundwater – Water from the water-saturated zone beneath the ground surface.

Hydrodynamic – Relating to the motion of fluids.

Hypoxia – A condition in which the dissolved oxygen in a parcel of water is low enough to have biological effects.

MEPA – The Massachusetts regulatory act that requires analysis of the environmental impact of certain projects and developments that are of significant size to impact the natural and human environment.

Nitrate – Nitrogen that is available to plants to promote growth. It typically is the limiting nutrient in growth of algae in embayments.

Nitrification – Biological conversion of ammonia to nitrate nitrogen by bacteria.

Nutrients – Chemical elements (typically nitrogen or phosphorus) or substances essential for plant and animal growth.

Nutrient Loading – Quantity of nutrients entering an ecosystem in a given period of time.

Nutrient Management Plan – Plan for management of the environmental health of water bodies by managing the quantities of nutrients that enter or reside in those water bodies.

Phosphate – Nutrient of importance to plant growth and environmental health, especially in ponds and lakes.

Pollutant – Any substance, either in character or quantity, which impairs the environment or ecosystem.

Ponds – On Cape Cod, typically the surface expression of the water table.

Phytoplankton – Microscopic algae which are suspended in the water column and transported by currents.

Secchi Disk – Weighted circular disk marked in alternate quadrants of black and white for measuring water clarity.

Storm Water Runoff - Runoff from the ground surface into adjacent water bodies resulting from rainstorms.

Wastewater – Water that has come in contact with pollutants as a result of human activities.

Wastewater Facility Plan – Plan that describes how the Town will proceed to address wastewater treatment issues.

Water Clarity – Depth of light penetration as measured by a secchi disk. Water clarity is affected by suspended particles of plankton or silt that block light penetration.

Water Quality – Environmental health of the aquatic ecosystem as measured by physical, biological and chemical parameters.

Water Quality Monitoring Parameters – Typically Temperature, Salinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Water Clarity, Nutrients.

Water Transparency – See Water Clarity definition.

Watershed – Geographic area of land (drainage basin) in which all surface and groundwater flows downhill to a water body such as a river, pond, lake or estuary.

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Acronyms   Return To Fact Sheet

ACEC – Area of Critical Environmental Concern

BOD – Biochemical Oxygen Demand (mg/l)

CCC – Cape Cod Commission

COE – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

CZM – Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management

DO – Concentration (mg/l) of Dissolved Oxygen in water

DEP – Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection

DEM - Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management

EOEA – Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs

EPA – U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

MEPA – Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act

SMAST – University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, School of Marine Science and Technology

TOB – Town of Barnstable

USGS – U.S. Geological Survey

WPCF – Water Pollution Control Facility, aka Sewage Treatment Plant

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Figures   Return To Fact Sheet