Commission’s 208 process to be used in Taunton River Watershed
The approaches and outreach techniques developed as part the Cape Cod Area-wide Water Quality Management Plan Update will be used for a similar watershed-based effort in Massachusetts.
The Nature Conservancy was awarded nearly $200,000 in October 2015 to apply the Cape Cod Commission’s successful 208 Plan technical and public engagement strategies in the Blackstone and Taunton River watershed area.
The Commission will provide technical assistance and organizational support as part of the grant. Commission-developed tools will be reloaded and calibrated with available region-specific data for use in a broad-based public engagement process.
During the 208 stakeholder process, the Commission enlisted 170 stakeholders from across the Cape to meet and react to the technical work developed in support of the plan. Over the course of 18 months and more than 80 meetings, the Commission built an open and transparent record that informed the final report. U.S. EPA approved the final 208 plan in September 2015.
The Commission will also facilitate organization of a technologies panel for the Blackstone and Taunton River watersheds. The Technologies Panel assembled for the Cape effort included scientists, practitioners and other experts to review available technology options and rate their characteristics, including applicability, cost, reliability and nutrient reduction efficiency.
The matrix will be part of a community toolkit for nitrogen management, which may also include 208-based tools such as watershed calculators, data layers and screening criteria and outreach protocols.
The Commission will also partner with TNC on future water quality summits covering technologies and nitrogen management approaches.
The Nature Conservancy and Commission continue to develop a stronger relationship through the Section 208 process. The Cape’s wastewater-related nutrient issues, seasonality and geology have parallels with many areas of interest to TNC.
Commission staff and consultants have spoken at the request of TNC in Connecticut and Long Island, New York about its successes and challenges in developing the innovative, community-based approaches used in the 208 process.
Among the objectives of the project is to build on these relationships an develop a framework for continued collaboration. The Commission will also work with TNC to consider potential interstate data sharing protocols and agreements.
The grant was awarded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Southern New England Partnership, an effort to coordinate agencies and resources across the region. The Cape Cod Commission is a SNEP partner.
About The Nature Conservancy:
http://www.nature.org/about-us/vision-mission/index.htm?intc=nature.tnav.about.list
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