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BREWSTER VISION ADVISORY GROUP
SUMMARY PAPER
WATER RESOURCES
OCTOBER 2017
I.Background
Brewster residents value the Town’s water resources and recognize that they are an integral
part of the community’s character. In the visioning workshops, residents especially identified
Brewster’s fresh water ponds as important assets to the Town for their aesthetic and
recreational values. Residents also recognized the importance of clean drinking water and the
relationships between protecting open space and preserving water quality throughout the
town.
Over the last 40 years, the Town has made a concerted effort to protect groundwater quality.
The Town has purchased significant areas of open space to protect the Town’s ponds and
drinking water, particularly in the zones of contribution to its six municipal wells. The Town has
also developed land use management policies and regulations to prevent development
activities from harming water resources. In particular, in 2008 the Brewster Water Protection
District of Critical Planning Concern was designated for the town’s Zone II areas—the areas
from which town wells potentially draw groundwater—and the town’s portion of the Pleasant
Bay watershed, which resulted in the adoption of water protection regulations in 2009,
including the Natural Resource Protection District. In 2015, the Town completed an Integrated
Water Resource Management Plan (IWRMP), and since that time has been working to
implement the recommendations from that plan related to ponds, coastal estuaries and
stormwater.
Current Status of Brewster’s Water Resources
The Town’s drinking water is consistently excellent and has won two awards from the New
England Water Works Association as the best tasting water in New England. Approximately
forty percent of the land area that contributes water to the Town’s drinking water wells is
protected open space. Nitrogen concentrations in the Town’s water supplies are consistently
below 0.5 mg/L, well below the federal standard of 10 mg/L and a direct result of the limited
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development in the vicinity of the wells. However, developed land uses (housing, industrial
uses) without proper management may threaten the quality of drinking water.
There are about 80 fresh water ponds in Brewster. Five of these ponds have excellent water
quality while approximately 15 are classified as impaired (See Figure 1). The impairments relate
to nutrient inputs, predominantly phosphorus, which contribute to excess algae growth in the
ponds. Phosphorus enters the ponds from septic systems, stormwater runoff, and fertilizers
applied to lawns, gardens, and agricultural areas.
Portions of Brewster lie within the watersheds to Pleasant Bay and Herring River. Nitrogen
inputs from septic systems, stormwater, and fertilizers within Brewster have contributed to
water quality impairments in these estuaries. While the Town has little or no access to these
coastal resources, the Town has an obligation to reduce nitrogen inputs to support the
restoration of the estuaries. Brewster needs to reduce its nitrogen load to the bay by
approximately 4,800 pounds per year. Approximately forty percent of that load reduction has
been accomplished by changes in fertilization practices at the Captains Golf Course. The
IWRMP states:
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“The level of nitrogen reduction required within Brewster can most likely be managed without
the need for a full-scale centralized treatment facility. Second, the management of the Captains
Golf Course over the last 6-8 years has significantly reduced the amount of fertilizers applied to
the course, and this action will minimize the extent of nitrogen treatment needed for
wastewater systems within the watershed. “
For Herring River, there is no need to reduce the current nitrogen inputs, but future inputs from
increased development will need to be managed.
Recent Actions by the Town
The Town continues to actively manage its water resources. Specific actions related to the
implementation of the IWRMP and other Town initiatives are summarized below:
Drinking Water Protection
The Town, in collaboration with the Brewster Conservation Trust, continues to actively pursue
open space preservation in the wellhead protection areas that contribute water to the Town’s
wells. In addition, the Town worked with the Cape Cod Commission to adopt a District of
Critical Planning Concern and developed implementation regulations, including the Water
Quality Protection Bylaw designed to minimize the impacts of development on groundwater
quality. The Town’s Water Quality Review Committee is charged with implementing this Bylaw
as well as overseeing other water quality issues that impact groundwater.
Fresh Water Ponds
The Town developed a Water Resource Atlas for 43 of the fresh water ponds in Brewster. The
atlas highlights the sensitive areas around each pond, including the surface watershed, the area
contributing groundwater to each pond, and the septic system buffer around each pond
http://www.horsleywitten.com/brewsterIWRMP/maps.html. The atlas allows residents to
understand the land use around each pond that affects water quality.
The Mill Ponds Management Plan developed by the University of Massachusetts School for
Marine Science and Technology (2014) provides an overall strategy for the restoration of
Walker’s Pond, Upper Mill Pond, and Lower Mill Pond, including recommendations for weed
harvesting in Walker’s Pond and an alum treatment in Upper Mill Pond to trap phosphorus in
the sediments on the pond bottom. In July, 2017, the Town purchased a weed harvester for
Walker’s Pond that was used for the first time in August, removing approximately 5,000 lbs. of
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weeds. The harvester will be used each year in Walker’s Pond, and is available for use in other
Town ponds. A Notice of Intent for an alum treatment in Upper Mill Pond was granted in
September, 2017, with the treatment possibly planned for 2018 or 2019. There continues to be
public discussion about treatment options.
The Town is working to develop a regulation to require the upgrade of septic systems in close
proximity to ponds in Brewster; those within 300 feet of the pond on the upgradient side and
100 feet on the downgradient side of each pond. The Ponds Atlas has been invaluable to
developing this watershed-specific management strategy. A pilot test of shallow, soil-based
leaching fields is currently underway to confirm the phosphorus removal that they provide. The
pilot test will be used to finalize the design requirements in the proposed regulation.
Coastal Estuaries
Brewster is working with Orleans, Chatham, and Harwich to develop a watershed permit to
manage the restoration of Pleasant Bay. Brewster plans to take advantage of a new septic
system leachfield design to reduce nitrogen inputs to the Bay and meet the Town’s restoration
goal. The leachfield is currently being tested at the Massachusetts Septic System Test Center
and uses sawdust or wood chips in the soil below the leachfield to remove nitrogen. A general
bylaw or health regulation will be developed to require the use of these systems in the Pleasant
Bay and Herring River Watersheds, likely for both existing and future development.
Stormwater Management
The Planning Board has developed a draft stormwater management bylaw and associated
regulations to improve how stormwater is managed across Brewster. These regulations will
help insure that stormwater is treated prior to discharge, using best management practices to
treat for nitrogen and phosphorus as well as minimized sediments that could drain into nearby
surface waters. The Town plans to work towards revising and implementing these regulations
over the next year.
II.Key Issues Moving Forward
Continued implementation of the Integrated Water Resources Management Plan includes the
following actions:
•Continued implementation of the Mill Ponds Management Plan including ongoing weed
harvesting, completion of the Upper Mill Pond alum treatment and ongoing water
quality monitoring;
•Completion of the septic system pilot test for phosphorus treatment and
implementation of the proposed regulation for pond-side properties;
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•Additional pond specific studies to identify appropriate restoration plans;
•Coordination with the Brewster Ponds Coalition to increase the public’s understanding
of the solutions to protect and restore ponds;
•Implementation of stormwater management regulations to minimize water quality
impacts to groundwater, ponds and coastal waters;
•Coordination with the Pleasant Bay Alliance on the restoration of Pleasant Bay; and
•Development of a financing plan to support these actions.
Discussion and Draft Goals
Discussion items:
•Water protection strategies support the Town as a whole but often impact specific
property owners adjacent to a pond or within a coastal watershed. Who should pay for
necessary actions to protect water quality? Should the Town finance these options,
should the homeowner, or a combination of both?
•What other water resource issues or concerns should the Town address?
III.Draft Vision Goal
Goal: Protect Brewster’s fresh water system to preserve high quality drinking water and
maintain or improve the health of our ponds and marine watersheds
Purposes:
1. Expand the open space protection around the Town well-fields
2. Improve pond water quality through public education, regulation, and mitigation activities
3. Protect the water quality of the town’s marine watersheds