The Watershed Vol. 10, No. 2
Oyster Pond Estuary Report ReleasedTotal Nitrogen concentration levels in Oyster Pond need to be reduced by up to 21% to restore it to ecological health, according to the recently released Oyster Pond Estuaries Report. Not surprisingly, the bulk of Oyster Pond's nitrogen (86%) comes from household septic systems that release nitrogen into the groundwater and carry it to the pond. Lawn fertilizers and stormwater runoff are the other contributors. These are the findings of the Massachusetts Esturay Project (MEP) Report for Oyster Pond released by a technical team comprised of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Marine Science and Technology, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Cape Cod Commission.The nitrogen threshold number was developed through a multi-step process using a Linked Watershed Embayment Management Model that combines layers of information from watershed inputs (delineation of watershed boundaries, land-use analysis, groundwater discharge rates, etc.) to embayment circulation and biogeochemical characteristics of nitrogen. The result is a model that determines nitrogen sensitivity and nitrogen threshold loading levels for Oyster Pond, and serves as the technical basis for development of Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs). The TMDL, developed by the Massachusetts DEP, is the amoutntof pollutant, in this case nitrogen, a system can absorb without impairment of water or habitat quality. Nitrogen, not phosphorus, continues to be the nutrient of concern for Oyster Pond. Unlike other estuaries in the MEP program, changes in the distribution of eelgrass growing in the pond cannot be used as an indicator of pond habitat quality. Oyster Pond "lost" its eelgrass over a hundred years ago as outlets to the ocean closed and the pond salinity dropped to the currently maintained 2 to 4 parts ppt, too low to support eelgrass. Instead the MEP Technical Team chose to examine the health of Oyster Pond's benthic community... (Continued on Page Two) |
OPET Annual Meeting Monday July 24, 2006 Woods Hole Research Center 149 Woods Hole Road 7 pm Light Refreshments 7:30 pm Short Business Meeting Followed by Dr. Brian Howes Lead Author of the Oyster Pond MEP Report "Results of the Oyster Pond Estuary Report" |
| Martin, who preferred to be called Keister, died in March after a long struggle with cancer. He was from Lexington, and he came to Cape Cod after purchasing a vacation home across the street from us at 1 Fells Road -- the house that Bob Livingstone lived in for many years. My first conversation with him and his wife Tanya was on the bike path. I stopped to introduce myself, and Keister said, "I know who you are, and we are going to be a lot closer in the near future." It turned out that he knew that we had both signed up for the same Audubon whale-watching trip in Baja, California. He was a lover |
Keister White with his wife Tanya of birds and birding, an avid gardener, and it was very fitting that he became a member of the OPET board. Keister was a pediatrician in Lexington for 40 years, and he was honored and revered by his colleagues and patients and their parents at a memorial service in April. |
His time on the Cape was too short both in years and on weekends when he and Tanya could get away. He became a good friend to Oyster Pond. He greatly enjoyed his pond watch duties with John Downing in all kinds of weather. His presence on the pond, beside the pond, and at OPET board meetings will be missed. by Lou Turner |