EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (Without Figures) rev - Town of Falmouth

Loss of water clarity from the suspended algae which has led to loss of rooted eel grass
on the floor of the estuaries.
Deposition of algae in the estuaries which has further damaged eel grass beds, smothered
shellfish resources, and depleted dissolved oxygen concentrations in the estuary and
severely impacted the benthic communities on the estuarine floor.
These TMDLs identified threshold nitrogen concentrations for these salt ponds and calculated
the amount of existing wastewater nitrogen that would need to be removed to meet the threshold
concentrations. The percentages of existing wastewater nitrogen loading (from existing septic
systems) that needs to be removed to meet the nitrogen TMDLs is illustrated on Figure ES-2.
This figure also illustrates the existing areas of Town served by sewers and the three potential
wastewater treatment plant sites evaluated as part of this project. It is noted that the TMDLs
have been completed for all coastal ponds in the Planning Area except for the western portion of
Waquoit Bay (“Waquoit West”). TMDL completion for Waquoit West is expected in 2010 or
2011. In an effort to proceed with the wastewater planning for the total Planning Area, Stearns
& Wheler used the existing wastewater nitrogen removal percentages from the adjacent Bournes
Pond watershed as a planning assumption of the removals needed for Waquoit West.
The wastewater removals shown on Figure ES-2 are for the “existing conditions” in the
approximate time period of 2003 to 2004 as documented by the Massachusetts Estuaries Project.
Additional land use growth has occurred and is expected in this area, and when the ultimate
buildout is projected for this area, the needed wastewater nitrogen removals are even greater.
Figure ES-3 illustrates the percentage of future wastewater nitrogen loadings that need to be
removed to meet the nitrogen limits. These are very stringent limits that can only be met by
sewering the majority of the Planning Area, advanced wastewater treatment, and careful recharge
in selected locations of the Planning Area that can accommodate the return flow and remaining
nitrogen estimated at 1 to 3 mg/L total nitrogen. This figure also illustrates planned and
proposed sewer areas Town-wide. The green area is the portion of the Planning Area (Phase 1
and 2 areas) proposed for sewering in the first 20 year period.
The large scale wastewater collection treatment and recharge project required to meet these
TMDLs presents a significant challenge to the Town and will be a large expense to the Town and
its residents. In meeting this challenge and implementing this project the Town will be executing
Town of Falmouth, MA ES-4
Draft Comprehensive Wastewater Management Plan and
Draft Environmental Impact Report
7104510.6