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ROCHESTER
Action Rochester is already taking and should continue in 2008 to protect and improve Bay health:
- Passage of a 25-foot ‘No-Build’ Wetland Setback at Fall 2007 Town Meeting made Rochester the fourth Bay town to provide this important new protection for wetlands.
- Participation in regional Oil Spill prevention efforts and in local spill response planning.
- Active support of open space acquisitions
What Rochester Can Do:
For inland watershed town like Rochester, most important thing they can do for Mattapoisett and Sippican Rivers and the Bay downstream is to protect forests, wetlands and stream buffers.
1. Expand Protection for Wetlands and Stream Buffers
- Adopt the Community Preservation Act (CPA) to secure new state funds for open space acquisitions. Rochester, Middleborough, Lakeville and Gosnold are now the only Bay watershed towns that have not adopted the CPA.
- Expand ‘No-Build Setbacks’ around freshwater and coastal wetlands for all new construction. Falmouth, Bourne, and Carver all require >50 foot construction setbacks from wetlands to protect these natural pollution filters.
- Prioritize wetlands and stream/riverfront lands for open space acquisitions.
2. Reduce Nitrogen Pollution
- Amend Rochester Subdivision and Health rules to require new developments to install nitrogen reducing wastewater technology.
3. Protect River Herring
- Participate in regional investigations into external causes of river herring decline such as the offshore Atlantic Herring fishery.
- Work with regional water district, cranberry growers and homeowners to maintain sufficient flow in the Mattapoisett River during drought conditions to ensure that juvenile river herring can travel from Snipatuit Pond to the Bay in late summer.
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