Comments on: The Big Dig of Cotuit is Coming

By: dave rickel

dave rickel — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 01:45:30 +0000

bob the big dig is asking for town and federal funds . so u can send your can send the money to the town of barnstable to help keep our taxes down. someone just bought the mellon property on oyster harbours for 19,000,000 us greenbacks after getting a 9.000,000 price cut. on the asking price—– not bad deal . its the prime location to get the first big blast when the beach goes on deadneck .mabey they could kick in a few mil to help out the poor 3-bays org. goodsking.

By: Bob Downing

Bob Downing — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 14:14:44 +0000

Reading the Churbuck Blog between ski days in Eden Utah, a Cotuit like place for enviromental beauty. Development has been slow here east of the range. But on the west side, the Salt Lake Valley is a disgrace and makes most of Mass seems almost park like. Did I read the the $1.5 million “Cotuit Dig” will be with private funds? If yes, glad to see that as a good sign many still care about this great place. Where do you send money? Nice to know it won’t be Wash DC.
Bob

By: David Churbuck

David Churbuck — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 15:13:07 +0000

Agreed. During the discussions a year ago about the nitrogen problem I was surprised to learn that the largest source of “new” nitrogen” into the three bays system is not the waterfront homes (though they contribute their share and then some with their penchant for “ChemLawn” backyards) but the subdivisions north of Route 28 throughout Marstons Mills on upwards into south Sandwich. Apparently the nitrogen hitting the bays now is at least a decade old — seeping slowly southwards through the water table and leeching into the mess we see today.

Popping open the entrance will help a bit, but if you read through the literature on the Three Bays website you learn the flushing process via the tides and rain processes is REALLY slow. I’ll try to dredge out (pun intended) the facts on water transfer rates, but I imagine it takes weeks, not days, for a cubic foot of water up high in the marshes at the Mills River to make it into Nantucket Sound.

By: dave

dave — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 02:30:21 +0000

the mills river is the source of the largest amount of e-coli and wastwater into north bay . flush is a great word ,my mother used to ask us kids after we went to the bathroom ,did you flush? . well we want to flush north bay faster into cotuit bay and faster into nantucket bay ! hell lets get that s**t out of our yard and down the road as fast as we can .

By: David Churbuck

David Churbuck — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 16:31:08 +0000

Rushy Marsh is a shame of a situation and who knows how that proceeds in the future. I know you mentioned that Sandy basically buried the whole culvert/spillway and make a re-opening a long shot. Do you think the brief amount of flushing there this past spring did any good?

The Mills River issue — what do you mean by that?

I’m looking forward to the hearing on the 8th at ConCon.

By: dave

dave — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 22:31:44 +0000

comment one:

fred is all for this because he has been turned down 3 times for membership in the sampson island yacht club.

comment 2:

marta is right on all points except on every tide we draw more of north bay waters into cotuit bay, then we push it out into the sound .

we have two problems, one is at the east end of dead neck (scouring due to the 1910 jetty) and the other is the mills river. nothing in this proposal will solve either of these problems.

if you dont believe this take a look at the rushey marsh flushing results !

By: Marta

Marta — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 16:05:30 +0000

My first thoughts are that this is going to make the swim from Riley’s to Sampson’s a real test again for the first time in years, the beer will taste just as good with the Point moved east a ways and the skiffs banging the mainland will have a chance of crossing bows with an incoming tide making for better racing and less yelling. All good!!

Reading the quoted permit application it seems the primary reason for the project is to protect birds, second storm protection, navigation, and safety and third and finally water quality. I am all for protecting species but artificially maintaining their perserve seems like we are moving into zoo territory. Zoos serve a purpose for breeding and study of course, I am just not sure Dead Neck needs to be artificially maintained for this. Are navigable bays important for the health of the bays? I do not thing so. Storm protection? I do not think protecting privately held real estate is important for the heath of the bays. Safety? Throw away point because who doesn’t love safety? So that leaves water quality and for me that is super important. I am all for this project if there is even the slimmest chance it will improve the water quality and the shellfish, eel grass, stripers, ect it nourishes. So I say permit and pump away. But that other stuff is BS.

Last summer I got to spend two days in Waqoit Bay, sailing, paddle boarding and swimming. Waqoit Bay is the third largest bay on the Cape after Pleasant Bay and Lewis Bay. Waqoit has a one cut for the tide about the size of the Wianno Cut. Waqoit bay is noticeably cleaner then Cotuit Bay. Really the water is bluer and clearer. Not so scientific I know. There were commercial shell fisherman and I saw eels swimming along while out paddling. I did not see one beastly jelly fish or any turd like flotsam I regularly see in Cotuit Bay. Waqoit bay has very few houses along its shores and less boats. I am guessing that has much to do the the experience I had which was a very good.

By: Fred Johanson

Fred Johanson — Tue, 11 Dec 2012 22:36:25 +0000

I agree with you, David. Widening the Cotuit opening has got to improve the flushing of the estuary, even if only incrementally. It will also make entrance to, and exit of, Cotuit Bay by boat much easier. As for the members of the “Sampsons Island Yacht Club”, they will still have plenty of beach on which to drink and frolic. I, too, am a member of Three Bays Preservation and while I don’t support everything they come up with, this sounds like a good idea.