What's Next?
In July 2023 the Mashpee Sewer Commission and Mashpee Select Board unanimously voted on the next step in the Town's Watershed Nitrogen Management Plan/CWMP. In order for this next step in the project to move forward, Town residents will need to approve with a two thirds positive vote at the October 16, 2023 Town Meeting for the planning and design of this next step. In addition, in a special election on November 7, 2023, residents will also need to cast their vote on the Debt Exclusion Ballot Question. The project will not move forward unless both these votes have been passed.
| How will we know that the project is successful and by when? What evaluation measures will be used? | While most residential septic systems actively release nutrients (primarily nitrogen and phosphorus) into our water resources, any rate to measure the success from Mashpee's sewer project will be elusive or slow. Even after a septic system is abandoned, the nutrients previously released into surrounding soils will continue to leach into our water resources. Nonetheless, regular measurements of nutrient pollutant levels in local waters will continue to be collected by state and local authorities for public reporting. Additional indicators (including oxygen and bacteria levels) will be measured to understand rates of change to water quality that have most seriously impacted the local shellfish and other aquatic wildlife habitats. |