Coastal Water Quality Protection in the Massachusetts Coastal Zone

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.

Two grant programs administered by CZM support the implementation of the Coastal Nonpoint Pollution Control Program.

• The Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grant Program, 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 Coastal Nonpoint Source Pollution (Coastal NPS) Grant Program complements CPR and addresses more general areas of nonpoint source control. These grants to municipalities, as well as other public and non-profit groups, can be used for the following types of projects: assessment, identification, and characterization of nonpoint sources; targeted assessment of the municipal stormwater drainage system (runoff from municipal roadways, parking lots and bridges); the development of transferable tools (nonstructural best management practices), such as guidance documents, model by-laws, and land use planning strategies to improve nonpoint source control and management; and the implementation of innovative and unique demonstration projects.