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The Water Resources Office (WRO) staff provides technical expertise in water-related matters for the Commission, its staff, and the 15 Cape Cod towns. This includes regulatory reviews, planning projects, and technical projects for towns and the region. WRO staff members also coordinate water resource activities with federal, state, regional, and local agencies. The WRO activities support the region-wide goal for Cape Cod's water, which is articulated in the Regional Policy Plan:

• to maintain the overall quality and quantity of Cape Cod's groundwater to ensure a sustainable supply of high quality untreated drinking water and to preserve and improve the ecological integrity of marine and fresh surface waters;
• to protect the public interest in the coast and rights for fishing, fowling, and navigation, as well as to preserve and, where appropriate, expand public access to the shoreline;
• to limit development in high-hazard areas in order to minimize loss of life and structures and the environmental damage resulting from storms, natural disasters, and sea-level rise.

For a summary, see the Fiscal Year 2008 Annual Report.