Pleasant Bay Intermunicipal Agreement before boards of selectmen

The Pleasant Bay Alliance worked with representatives from its four member communities, the Cape Cod Commission, and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to draft an Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) that outlines a path for continued cooperation to address nitrogen related water quality impacts in Pleasant Bay.  The IMA is currently before each of the Pleasant Bay Communities for consideration. The purpose of the IMA is to coordinate water quality planning efforts and pursue a watershed permit from MassDEP. The Alliance members include Orleans, Chatham, Harwich and Brewster and works to protect the Pleasant Bay watershed and implement the organization’s resource management plan.

In June of 2017, at a joint meeting during the One Cape conference, the four Boards of Selectmen jointly approved a resolution to coordinate nitrogen planning. The resolution allocated responsibility for nitrogen loads in the watershed and adopted a composite analysis of existing planning prepared by the Alliance.

The Alliance is now working on a draft targeted watershed management plan to be submitted as part of the watershed permit. The member communities anticipate submitting their targeted watershed management plan to the Cape Cod Commission for review for consistency with the 208 Plan in April 2018 and subsequently filing a letter of application to MassDEP for what may be the region’s first watershed permit.