The environment that we all treasure on Buzzards Bay— clear water, access to extraordinary sailing and sport-fishing waters, quahogs under our toes, oysters on our plates, and the beauty and natural abundance of our gentle coastline — is a fundamental part of who we are here on the Southcoast. It’s also under unprecedented stress from climate change.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition is focused on taking action today, as there is much that we can do at the local level right now to prevent the worst outcomes. Informed by decades of water quality monitoring and empowered by strong collaborations with scientists and local officials, our strategy focuses on wastewater improvements and salt marsh adaptation.
DOUBLE-DOWN ON WASTEWATER CLEANUP
Reducing nitrogen pollution to Buzzards Bay is the most powerful tool we have to counter the effects of climate change and make our coastal waters more resilient. And, unlike cutting global CO2, the means for reducing nitrogen are largely within our control. Nitrogen comes primarily from residential wastewater and decisions about septic systems and sewer plants are made each week in our Town Halls.
Here’s the difficult truth: our Bay is already warming and higher temperatures are like adding fuel to nitrogen pollution. Many parts of Buzzards Bay have warmed 4 degrees Fahrenheit since the inception of the Coalition’s water quality monitoring program in 1992. We see more algae in today’s warmer waters, which clouds and robs the Bay of life-sustaining oxygen as it decomposes.
And the impacts don’t end with clear water. Nitrogen also makes the Bay more acidic, compounding the increasing acidity the Bay is seeing from more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Acidity dissolves shells; meaning a Bay with less scallops, oysters and clams — a blow to our marine economy but also a loss of their water filtering capacity. Even the ability of our salt marshes to stand up to sea level rise is affected by nitrogen pollution. Elevated nitrogen levels in the Bay can lead to a weakening of the roots of salt marsh grasses, reducing their ability to hold firm in the face of rising seas and increased storminess.
That’s why our organization remains more committed than ever to working with homeowners, developers, town officials, and state agencies to expand sewer service in our communities and to accelerate the transition to denitrifying septic systems wherever sewer is not possible.
BUY OUR MARSHES AS MUCH TIME AS POSSIBLE
The Trustees State of the Coast report highlights the dire situation facing Buzzards Bay’s precious salt marshes which are already struggling to keep up with rising sea levels. Of all landscapes, none provides more ecological services than salt marshes and we must do everything in our power to slow their loss.
The Buzzards Bay Coalition has made the permanent preservation of the uplands that lie just behind our salt marshes our highest land conservation priority. By preventing development or hardening of these fringing lands, we can give marshes a chance to migrate inland as sea level rises. We are making the real estate deals needed to save these lands now.
Second, we are piloting new physical interventions to mitigate marsh loss. Our scientists are working with partners throughout New England to prove the effectiveness of techniques like runneling which help drain water off the marsh and prevent grass die-off. Other techniques like increasing tidal flushing and adding sediment to marshes are also part of this emergency response that are being considered.
ACCELERATE OUR OWN TRANSITION TO RENEWABLE ENERGY
While public officials are increasingly focused on responding to climate change impacts already occurring, reducing the source of this problem — the burning of fossil fuels — can get lost. Ultimately, the scale of how badly climate change impacts our Bay, our communities and our grandchildren still depends on all of us. To be clear, we can’t reverse what has already been put in motion, but we can avoid the most catastrophic scenarios by speeding up our own shift away from fossil fuels in our homes and our cars.