ECOLOGY OF BUZZARDS BAY: An Estuanne Profile 79 



To evaluate water quality in coastal embayments, 

 it is important to identify not only point sources of 

 pollution discharging directly into the bay itself but 

 also those inputs entering from the entire watershed. 

 Nonpoint source inputs from the watershed are fre- 

 quently less discrete and more difficult to quantify 

 than point sources yet frequently last longer and po- 

 tentially have more impact. This impact is especially 

 true for nutrient inputs to coastal systems. To un- 

 derstand the variations in water quality throughout 

 Buzzards Bay it is beneficial to look at the various 

 land uses of the communities that make up the wa- 

 tershed as well as the economic factors influencing 

 activities within and surrounding the bay. 



5.1. Land Use 



Many different land uses are found within the 

 Buzzards Bay watershed; however, the relative 

 dominance of land use patterns has been shifting in 

 recent decades. Forested land represents the larg- 

 est acreage in the watershed, followed by residen- 

 tial development. Agricultural (including cropland 

 and pastureland), commercial, and industrial devel- 

 opment make up the bulk of the remaining land uses. 

 Over the past four decades, forestland area has 

 decreased the most, closely followed by agricul- 

 tural land, primarily due to the large increase in resi- 

 dential development. Commercial and industrial 

 development has also been on the rise, primarily in 

 response to the increase in year-round populations 

 from new residential development and conversion 

 of summer homes to year-round occupancy. 



The changing patterns of land use within the 

 Buzzards Bay watershed have had many conse- 

 quences for the region, both environmentally and 

 economically. Increased populations require addi- 

 tional services such as new or improved roads, ad- 

 equate waste disposal, and increased utilities. The 

 numbers of commercial enterprises such as stores, 

 restaurants, and recreational facilities also increase. 

 Increased development of watershed areas, espe- 

 cially in areas with on-site septic disposal of wastes 

 (as is the primary method within the Buzzards Bay 

 watershed), can create long-term problems with 

 groundwater protection and can threaten the health 



of nearshore coastal waters through increased nu- 

 trient loading. The gradual loss of vegetated land 

 surface to buildings, roads, or other paved surfaces 

 affects many ecological processes, from the role of 

 plants in the cycling of nutrients and water to the 

 permeability of soils to precipitation. One of the 

 greatest challenges facing land use planners and man- 

 agers for the towns within the Buzzards Bay water- 

 shed is balancing these changing land use patterns 

 with environmental protection. Maintaining this bal- 

 ance is important to ensure both a healthy environ- 

 ment and a healthy economy, with the health of the 

 economy depending to a great degree on that of 

 the environment, especially in this predominantly 

 tourism-based region. 



5.2. Economy 



5.2.1. Towns Within the 

 Watershed 



The Buzzards Bay drainage basin includes 1 

 towns located directly on the bay, and 8 noncoastal 

 towns located completely or partially within the 

 watershed boundary. A brief description of these 

 towns (Fig. 1 .3), as they relate to Buzzards Bay 

 waters, follows (information summarized from Buz- 

 zards Bay Project 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990; Camp, 

 Dresser, and McKee. Inc. 1 990; Terkla et al. 1 990; 

 personal communication with town representatives). 

 Coastal: 



Westport. Westport is primarily a rural and 

 agricultural community supporting much of the dairy 

 industry within the Buzzards Bay watershed. In re- 

 cent years, however, the town has experienced rapid 

 residential growth. The Westport River, which ac- 

 tually comprises two rivers, the East and West 

 branches, with independent subwatersheds, flows 

 through parts of Westport and Dartmouth, with 

 tributaries as far north as Freetown (East Branch) 

 and Tiverton (West Branch). Both the East and West 

 branches of the Westport River have relatively 

 high water quality; however, increased numbers of 

 closures to swimming and shellfishing because of 

 high levels of coliform bacteria and evidence of 



