Article Explores Community Engagement and Solutions for Clean Water on Cape Cod

Erin S. Perry (Cape Cod Commission), Stacie N. Smith (CBI, Associate Managing Director), and Kate K. Mulvaney (US EPA Office of Research and Development) published the article "Designing solutions for clean water on Cape Cod: Engaging communities to improve decision making" in the latest issue of Ocean and Coastal Management.

In this article, the authors applied a case study of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, to assess stakeholder engagement for nutrient management. Cape Cod is undergoing an intensive decision-making process involving local, regional, state, and federal actors to address nitrogen impacts on coastal waterbodies through an update to its Area Wide Water Quality Management Plan (208 Plan). This region was the first to undergo an in-depth revisit of its 208 Plan, and it employed a thorough community engagement effort to understand the range of perspectives, ensure effective two-way communication, and build trust through a transparent process. The community engagement was successful in broadening regional and local participation.

The full piece is available for free for a limited time here: https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1a8Yq3RKK-g7pr