Clearly, without clean water, the value of the Commonwealth's coast would be vastly diminished. Good water quality is necessary for fishing, shellfishing, aquaculture, swimming, and most of the other activities that draw people to the coast.

Through the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program, CZM is working with federal and state agencies, local officials, industry representatives, environmentalists, and the public to develop enforceable measures to restore and protect coastal waters from nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, which is currently the number one pollution problem in U.S. coastal waters. NPS pollution occurs when contaminants are picked up by rain water and snow melt and carried over land, in groundwater, or through drainage systems to the nearest waterbody.

The Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grant Program, administered by CZM, supports the implementation of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program and provides funding to municipalities in Massachusetts coastal watersheds to reduce stormwater impacts from roads, highways, or parking areas and to install municipal boat pumpout facilities. The CPR program was developed to provide resources to municipalities for assessing and managing nonpoint sources of pollution. Projects funded through these grants can stand-alone or they can be discrete components of multi-year projects. For example, a municipality might use CPR grant to identify pollution sources in a subwatershed during year one of a project, and then apply for a second CPR grant to develop best management practices to remediate the identified roadway related pollutants during year two. CZM encourages the incorporation of long-term, progressive pollution mitigation planning components into proposals this program.

Also as part of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program, CZM developed the Massachusetts Clean Marina Guide. This reference for owners and operators of marine boating facilities provides information on cost-effective strategies and practices aimed at reducing marina and boating impacts on the coastal environment.

In addition, CZM has produced a Coastal Landscaping website, which provides information on water quality protection and other benefits of appropriate landscaping approaches, along with detailed information on how to effectively landscape coastal banks, beaches, and dunes.