Ninety percent of Cape Cod’s coastal bays and more than a third of its ponds have “unacceptable” water quality. That’s according to the nonprofit Association to Preserve Cape Cod’s annual State of the Waters report, released Wednesday.
Cape Cod’s bays and ponds are polluted with excess nitrogen and phosphorous from lawn fertilizer, stormwater runoff, and — mostly — untreated wastewater leaching out of septic systems. The excess nutrients feed the growth of invasive weeds and toxic algae.
