PARCEL BY PARCEL
IN THE THREE BAYS WATERSHED
The Three Bays Watershed, located in the
Towns of Barnstable, Sandwich, and Mashpee,
is facing a crisis of water quality degradation.
Excess nitrogen has been identified as
the largest contributor to water quality
degradation throughout Cape Cod including
the Three Bays (Cape Cod Commission, 2015.)
Residential waste water systems and non-point
sources of pollution including stormwater runoff, and excess fertilization, are identified as the
three primary sources contributing 77%, 13%
an 10%, respectively, of the excess nitrogen
flowing through groundwater and into the
bays. Like other watersheds throughout
the Cape, Three Bays is largely a residential
watershed with 92% of its parcels zoned
for residential use. In addition to nitrogen
contamination, water quality degradation
is recognized to have significant ecological,
economic, and cultural impacts on the health
and quality of life in the watershed.Applications of ecological planning, design
strategies, and best practices at multiple
scales, from watershed to parcel, create
opportunities to improve the ecological
health and quality of life throughout the
watershed. Research in ecological design and
cultural perceptions of landscape help inform
the development of conceptual residential
ecological designs. Three residential parcel
districts, Freshwater Waterfront, Saltwater
Waterfront, and Upland Neighborhood are
used to frame typical parcels. Within these
parcels, conceptual ecological landscape
designs are displayed that provide multiple
ecosystem services to improve watershed
health while honoring aesthetic and cultural
norms, and possible expectations of the
watershed.
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