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Is Half a Bay Acceptable? Buzzards Bay Scores 48 (out of 100) in 2003 State of the Bay Report
November 22, 2003
CONTACT: Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director The Coalition for Buzzards Bay 508-999-6363, ext. 201
NEW BEFORD, MA—Buzzards Bay, our region's most important natural asset, is functioning at roughly half of its potential according to The Coalition for Buzzards Bay in a report released today at a conference attended by concerned citizens, local officials, and scientists. On a scale of 0 to 100 (100 representing the pristine Buzzards Bay described by explorer Bartholomew Gosnold in 1602), the Bay's health rates a 48. "A score of 48 reflects our need to do a much better job protecting Buzzards Bay from pollution and overdevelopment," said Mark Rasmussen, Executive Director for The Coalition for Buzzards Bay. The State of Buzzards Bay While the release of the Report comes on the heels of a long summer cleaning up Buzzards Bay after the April 27th Bouchard Oil Spill, the Report highlights additional issues such as nitrogen pollution and overdevelopment that are unrelated to the spill and pose an ongoing threat to the Bay's future. Particularly troubling is the steadily increasing load of nitrogen pollution that flows to the Bay from wastewater treatment plants, septic systems, lawn and agricultural fertilizers and acid rain. "Nitrogen is the single greatest threat to the future of Buzzards Bay and we continue to dump more and more of it into the Bay each year.", commented Rasmussen. Most new nitrogen pollution entering the Bay comes from residential development in the watershed's more rural areas. Today, more than ½ of the bay's harbors and coves are degraded due to nitrogen. The increasing problem of nitrogen pollution is contrasted by declines in bacterial pollution in the past decade, the report notes. Shellfish beds closed due to bacterial contamination in Buzzards Bay have decreased by 43% in the past 12 years. "The cleanup of sewage pollution that has led to reopened shellfish beds in the Bay is a clear example of how, when cities and towns focus on reducing pollution, bay health can be restored." The impact of pollution and habitat loss is seen most clearly in the present state of some of the bay's most important living resources - eelgrass (score: 34), bay scallops (score: 12) and river herring (score:5). "Buzzards Bay used to be known for its annual bay scallop harvest, now that fishery is in a state of near collapse due in large part to nitrogen-related declines in water quality and subsequent loss of eelgrass in the bay. If we want our bay scallops back, we need to reduce nitrogen pollution." commented Rasmussen. Eelgrass - the foundation of the much of the bay ecosystem - now covers less than one-third of its historical area in the Bay. The health of river herring in the Bay scored a disappointing 5 out of 100 due to the drastic decline in population numbers. The report notes historical herring catch records for rivers like the Mattapoisett where in 1921, there were 1.85 million herring caught. The average for the past 3 years in the river is less than 100,000 fish per year. The decline in river herring can be traced to the damming of the Bay's rivers, filling of spawning ponds, degradation of water quality, and alterations to pond and river flows. The area of the report that scored the highest was forests, with a score of 76%. In 1999, according to land use data provided by the Woods Hole Research Center, 76% of the Buzzard Bay watershed's original forest coverage remains. "Although forests received the highest score in this report, Buzzards Bay land remains at risk from new development and urban sprawl," noted Rasmussen. Best scientific information suggests that when a coastal watershed loses more than 70% of its original forest cover, it is at risk of falling our of ecological balance. In the past 30 years, 13% (or 23,000 acres) of our remaining forests have been lost primarily due to sprawl development. Development Trends Drive Bay Decline Located between New York and Boston, Buzzards Bay had for much of its history avoided the suburban sprawl that has consumed most of the nation's coastal watersheds. Fortunately, the Bay remains one of the healthiest on the East Coast. Without a clear and preemptive plan, however, Buzzards Bay will lose this distinction. To illustrate, more land has been developed in southeastern Massachusetts in the last 40 years than in the 340 years prior since the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620. A doubling in one generation. Population projections indicate that more than 200,000 new people will move into the Buzzards Bay region in the next twenty years and that many of the towns in the watershed are expected to grow by 30-60% during that time. More disturbing about these projections is the fact that land is being consumed at a rate 2 ½ times that of population growth. We are not only growing rapidly, we are doing it in a manner that is unwisely consuming our region's open spaces. As this growth consumes the watershed, nitrogen pollution from the thousands of septic systems, acres and acres of lawns, and miles of new roads and driveways, compounded by the loss of the Bays natural filters - its forests, wetlands, and open space - represents, many scientists believe, the greatest long term threat the Bay has ever seen. "How well we manage development of the 55% of the Buzzards Bay watershed that remains undeveloped and unprotected will decide the future of the Bay." said Rasmussen. "We have a unique opportunity to take decisive action now to prevent our Bay from falling prey to the same poorly-planned development and accompanying pollution that has devastated other estuaries such as the Chesapeake Bay and Long Island Sound." A Blueprint for Action The State of the Bay report includes actions that each watershed community and residents of the bay area can take to restore the health of the Bay. The report urges Town officials to: increase open space acquisition programs, amend zoning laws to better manage newdevelopment, improve wastewater treatment plants, encourage nitrogen-removal sewer systems in new developments, clean-up stormwater discharge pipes contaminating shellfish beds, and better protect stream buffers and wetlands. Actions that everyone can take include: reducing nitrogen pollution by reducing the use of lawn fertilizers, never dumping paint or toxics down sinks or storm drains, getting involved in town government to reduce pollution and manage new development, planting buffers along streams, and participating in water quality monitoring programs. "The release of this report is a first step to understanding the human-induced changes that are occurring in Buzzards Bay," said Mark Rasmussen. "By learning what changes have been made, we can take steps to improve the health of Buzzards Bay in the years to come. Saving Buzzards Bay is everyone's responsibility." Report Background To create the State of the Bay report, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay collaborated with scientists and land use planners to examine the best available current and historical information for indicators in three categories: Pollution, Watershed Health, and Living Resources. Four hundred years ago, the natural abundance that defined Buzzards Bay mystified explorer Bartholomew Gosnold and his crew as they sailed into the Bay. They wrote of clear waters, towering ancient forests, extensive salt marsh meadows, and an astounding abundance of fish. This Bay - Buzzards Bay as it existed in 1602 - would rank a top score of 100 on a scale of Bay health.
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