It has been 18 years since Massachusetts took the first steps to evaluate and restore 70 coastal bays and estuaries in the southeastern portion of the state. By now, many on Cape Cod are familiar with the Massachusetts Estuaries Project, if only for the daily limits on nitrogen flowing into water bodies that scientists determined were needed to restore them to a healthy ecosystem for fishing, swimming and marine life.
But progress has been slow, and a report released Tuesday by the Association to Preserve Cape Cod shows that the vast majority of the region’s lakes, ponds, estuaries and bays remain in poor shape and need immediate help.
“There’s been precious little management implementation despite all the talk,” the association’s executive director, Andrew Gottlieb, said. Only 3% of parcels on Cape Cod are serviced by wastewater treatment.