CHAPTER 2 

 CCAMP STUDY AREA: TOWNS OF BARNSTABLE AND EASTHAM 



2 . 1 Background. 



Although the CCAMP results are intended to have broad application in 

 terms of revising institutional approaches to groundwater -resource 

 management, the project focused on two Cape Cod communities. 



These two towns, Eastham and Barnstable, represent the spectrum of 

 problems facing Cape Cod communities. The two towns are divergent in 

 terms of urban/rural characteristics, and together they typify the variety 

 of complex management challenges facing the region. Barnstable contains a 

 major business and population center, a waste-water treatment facility, an 

 active industrial park and extensive public water-supply systems. It also 

 employs a professional administration for managing environmental protec- 

 tion. Eastham 's rural community is removed from population centers and 

 completely dependent on private wells and on-site-disposal systems. Half 

 its area is contained within the boundaries of the Cape Cod National Sea- 

 shore. Unlike Barnstable which relies on its planning board and board of 

 health for environmental protection, Eastham's part-time Board of Select- 

 men also serve as the Board of Health and the Building Inspector enforces 

 many of the town's health regulations. The town has a largely seasonal 

 economy, with many of the tourist-oriented services closed between Septem- 

 ber and May. Barnstable has a year-round population of 39,000 that swells 

 to 68,000 in the peak summer season. Eastham's year-round figure is 4,700 

 and 17,000 during the summer. 



2 . 2 Groundwater Protection Issues . 



2.2.1 Barnstable. 



Barnstable exemplifies the challenge facing much of Cape Cod - balanc- 

 ing land-use decisions of the past which did not emphasize groundwater- 

 quality protection with existing and future water-supply needs. As the 

 result of investing $100,000 in a town-wide hydrogeological study (The SEA 

 Study) in 1985, the town is now more aware of the nature of its water 

 resources and land-use conflicts. SEA calculated that at saturation 

 development, the projected peak- day water demand would exceed the 

 presently existing supply by 33 percent. Fortunately for Barnstable, 

 options exist for the placement of additional public-supply wells that 

 would meet the shortfall. However, a relatively slim margin of error 

 demands that all existing and future wellhead-protection areas in 

 Barnstable be absolutely protected. 



The findings resulted in a turning point for resource management in 

 Barnstable as the town launched a massive water-protection program. The 

 Town Department of Planning and Development was given a substantial budget 

 increase to implement recommendations from the study, land was acquired 

 for water-supply protection, and the Board of Health adopted several 

 strict new regulations designed to protect groundwater. 



However, due to the extent of past inappropriate land uses such as 



