New! Water Quality Summaries 2000 -2023

Document

(source: Town of Orleans Freshwater Ponds, Water Quality Monitoring Database: Development and Review. Coastal Systems Program, 2017. School for Marine Science and Technology, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. New Bedford, MA. 216 pp. E. Eichner and B. Howes.)

Ecosystem Status:

These water quality data summaries were prepared for the Town of Orleans by the School of Marine Science & Technology at UMass Dartmouth (SMAST).  In the accompanying water quality data summaries, the ecosystem status is based on water quality measurements and ecological conditions, and whether those measurements meet various applicable water quality standards identified by SMAST, such as Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection surface water regulatory limits and Cape Cod Ecoregion threshold goals.  The status designation does not consider bacteriological (e.g., fecal coliform) testing or testing for EPA priority pollutants.

 

Therefore, regarding the presence of restrictions related to use of the water body for various recreational uses, such as swimming, or shell fishing or other uses, please consult the following Town resource webpages:

 

The Orleans Department of Health: https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/254/Health

 

The Orleans Shellfish & Harbormaster: https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/435/Shellfish-Harbormaster

 

Ecosystem Status Designations: Key to color coding

 

Green - Healthy waters are free from nutrients or contaminants in concentrations that would cause or contribute to impairment of the existing natural ecosystem and/or its designated uses.

Red - Impaired waters have nutrients or contaminants in concentrations that have caused impairment of the natural ecosystem and may or may not lead to restricting its designated uses.

Yellow - Improved waters had nutrients or contaminants in concentrations that caused or contributed to impairment of existing ecosystems and/or designated uses, but these concentrations have been reduced through mitigation, such as sewering of adjacent properties and/or alum treatments in the case of freshwater ponds and lakes.

Ecosystem Status Definitions:

Impairment - An ecosystem that is impaired has deviated from its natural state due to human generated environmental pressures (e.g., septic system wastewater, stormwater runoff, pollution from pesticides and fertilizers) leading to disruption in biological and chemical processes necessary for normal ecosystem function.