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Ask any resident, business owner, or visitor what they love most about Cape Cod, and you are likely to hear a lot about our region’s natural beauty, ample access to ponds and beaches, and abundant outdoor recreation options. These features make Cape Cod the truly unique and special place it is, but they also factor into major economic decisions for employers and families, such as where to open a business or raise their children. As we saw during the pandemic, Cape Cod’s proximity to environmental resources is an asset when it comes to attracting visitors and residents. This has impacted everything from year-round population growth, up 7% regionally since 2019, to the prevalence of short-term rentals, which have increased by 47% since 2021.  

With more visitors and residents comes economic opportunity, as businesses see increased demand for goods and services. However, these opportunities are directly tied to the state of Cape Cod’s natural environment - and that outlook has not been good. Nutrient pollution, nitrogen, and phosphorus from septic systems are choking our estuaries and embayments and fouling freshwater ponds. The Association to Preserve Cape Cod reported in January that 90% of Cape Cod’s coastal bays have water quality that is “unacceptable,” and more than a third of the ponds in the region share this designation.  

This picture, threatening as it is to our regional economy and business climate, isn’t news to most of us. Much of my tenure as Executive Director of the Cape Cod Commission was spent creating a regional wastewater management plan. The 208 Plan, as its known, set a new national precedent for wastewater planning. It also allowed federal and state environmental agencies to settle a lawsuit with the Conservation Law Foundation, an entity that has pushed for more urgent action to improve regional waste management. In concert with this regional planning effort, municipal leaders are working diligently to address declining water quality through public wastewater infrastructure projects. Collectively, these projects represent the largest infrastructure project the 15 towns on Cape Cod have ever undertaken. It will cost billions of dollars and take several decades to complete the work. 

In fact, the cost of wastewater infrastructure has been the biggest hurdle to clear in preserving Cape Cod's regional environment and economy for future generations. One of the most important tools in this work is the Cape Cod & Islands Water Protection Fund (CCIWPF). Established in 2018 through an act of the Massachusetts Legislature, the CCIWPF provides subsidy funding for towns to complete costly, but critical, wastewater infrastructure and water quality projects. Funds are generated through a 2.75% excise tax on lodging businesses and short-term rentals. 

The 25% subsidy offered through the CCIWPF has helped to jumpstart progress on wastewater infrastructure projects Cape-wide. Towns can access this vital funding source to offset the cost burden on residential taxpayers, who are already navigating high interest rates and increased housing prices. The funding subsidies are now more important than ever, as Cape Cod municipalities work to meet recently revised state regulations for Title 5 septic systems and community watershed permits. These new regulations introduce more stringent requirements specifically for the Cape Cod region, while providing no additional funding to meet the shorter timelines and higher standards for wastewater planning and implementation. 

The CCIWPF has so effectively encouraged action on wastewater infrastructure projects that, up until about a month ago, funds were being spent faster than they could be replaced. The fund was originally designed to handle $60-80 million per year in subsidies, but requests for 2023 came in at more than double that amount at about $167 million. For 2024, communities have submitted a staggering $583 million in projects for funding consideration. This increase is due to rising project costs, but also reflects growth in the number of projects coming online, town by town (11 projects in 2023 compared to just two in 2018).  

Although the CCIWPF continues to generate revenue from the 2.75% regional excise tax, fund managers identified that this alone would not be enough to cover the substantial costs projected for upcoming and in-progress wastewater projects. In late March, a creative solution was born as the CCIWPF management board amended their regulations to allow for the fund’s 25% subsidy to be applied over time rather than all at once. This fix prevented an increase in the 2.75% excise tax on lodging and short-term rentals, and will help bridge the gap in available resources for current and future projects. The Cape Cod Commission, APPCC, and the 15 town representatives who steer the fund deserve credit for their creative thinking and action. 

The success of the CCIWPF and its ability to incentivize action on Cape Cod’s pressing water quality and wastewater infrastructure challenges can serve as a model for other regional issues. The costs associated with addressing massive regional infrastructure issues are simply too much for any one town to handle on their own. Wastewater, attainable housing for year-round residents, and replacing the Sagamore and Bourne Bridges are regional issues that require regional action. There are opportunities to creatively fund these solutions, too. As just one example, the state’s proposed transfer fee on high-dollar real estate transactions could be directed to a regional housing trust that purchases year-round occupancy restrictions to retain workforce and residents. 

There was a time during the '70s and early '80s when the federal and state governments would have paid for over 90% of new wastewater infrastructure. The argument against building sewers at that time wasn’t the cost, but rather a sense that building sewers would encourage more residential growth. There are some that believe replacing the bridges will also invite more visitors. Let’s hope we, as a region, have moved on from this flawed thought process. People aren’t coming to Cape Cod for the sewers and bridges. Visitors and new residents will come whether or not we build the infrastructure to support them, because Cape Cod is a desirable place to be. Attempting to stifle growth by avoiding investment in necessary infrastructure will only lead to further environmental degradation, and ultimately will result in economic and social decay.  

Change is inevitable. But we can have change by chance or change by choice. So far, change by chance has left us with structurally deficient bridges that are approaching 100 years old, an impaired environment, and a shrinking middle-class that can’t afford to live here. The solutions to these regional challenges will cost well over $10 billion.  

Let’s build on our regional successes. It’s time to be responsible stewards of this incredibly special place, and start thinking and acting on behalf of future generations. As a region, we have to choose how we want to change.