Reduce, Restore, Recover: Little Pond ecosystem’s response to sewering

Abstract

Over the last 70 years, Cape Cod has seen rapid population growth and minimal investment in wastewater infrastructure. This has added significant amounts of nitrogen to the local watersheds and downstream estuaries, fueling algal growth, degradation of coastal water quality, and habitat loss. In 2016, Falmouth, MA, installed a sewer system near Little Pond, significantly reducing the amount of nitrogen reaching the ecosystem. Researchers Ken Foreman (Marine Biological Laboratory), Ketil Koop-Jackobson (Marine Biological Laboratory), and Matt Long (Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution) are evaluating how the Little Pond estuary has responded to remediation efforts as an example for future sewering efforts.

The research team has undertaken intense field work, evaluating all the ways that nutrients enter, exit, and are processed within the Little Pond estuary. The project involves collecting water quality samples, measuring the flow of nutrients in and out of pond inlet, assessing the release of nutrients that have built up over time in the sediments, and using new sensor technology to understand how much photosynthesis is occurring by phytoplankton in the water.

The ultimate goal of this work is to develop an understanding of how long it may take for ecosystems to recover from excess nutrient inputs once interventions, like sewering, have been put into place. The team will share their work with relevant community groups and town and state regulators once their field campaigns have been completed.