State of the Waters: Cape Cod 2022
A project by the Association to Preserve Cape Cod.
How Healthy are the Waters of Cape Cod?
● Cape Cod’s saltwater embayments and freshwater ponds are suffering from the negative effects of too many nutrients.
● Water quality is in decline due to pollution from septic systems, stormwater and fertilizers.
● While the quality of most drinking water supplies remained excellent or good, two public drinking water supplies were poor because they did not meet two or more drinking water standards: one failed E. coli and total coliform bacteria standards and another failed PFAS6 and enteric bacteria standards.
RED means Unacceptable: requires immediate restoration BLUE means Acceptable: requires ongoing protection
How to Use This Map
The map Layer List will automatically be open on the right side of the map. You can always access the map Layer List by clicking the stacked layer icon (see icon image below) on the top right corner of the map window. This will show the 9 layers available to toggle on/off in this interactive map (some of these layers are basemap layers and only visible at certain extents). The default map setting shows point embayment station status across Cape Cod color-coded to indicate water quality status.
Select the Legend icon (also located in top right corner of the map) to see the map key for the layers that are checked on in the map.
Center the map on a point of interest to you by clicking and dragging the map. Zoom in by clicking the + button on the top left of the map window, or by using the scroll wheel on your computer mouse.
Click on a color-coded feature on the map to open a pop-up box containing information about the selected feature. Many pop-up boxes will contain links that you can click for more information.
To return to the original default map view, click the home icon located underneath the +/- zoom control buttons on the top left of the map window.
Other features of the map include: Print, Select, Measure & Share. The Print icon allows the user to print what is currently on the screen. The Select icons allows the user to select multiple points at once and zoom to those points. The Measure tool allows the user to take an on-screen measurement in a choice of units. The Share icon allows the user to share a link to this map either via email or selected social media platforms.)
About the Grading
Learn more about how we grade, term definitions and our methodology.