How do you think the town should solve its sewer problems? Wareham officials want to know!

For decades, the town has struggled with reducing the amount of nitrogen discharged into town waterways and flowing into Buzzards Bay. Now the Sewer Commission, working with GHD Consultants Anastasia Rudenko and Sara Greenberg, have drafted a 20-year plan outlining steps that could be taken.

They range from continuing current repairs to aging equipment at the sewage treatment plant to a multi-hundred million dollar project to move the location of the sewer plant’s discharge location directly into the Cape Cod Canal.

Getting the plan approved by the state is the first step in getting these projects done.

Before the Sewer Commissioners can send the draft to the state, they need residents to review the plan and submit any comments they have. The sewer commissioners are aiming to submit the plan before the fall but there is no deadline to submit comments.

An executive summary of the plan can be reviewed on the sewer department’s website and comments can be emailed to wpcf@wareham.ma.us or call 508-295-6144.

The main goal of the plan is to reduce the amount of nitrogen in the Wareham River and create a system that will keep nitrogen levels low in the future.

Rudenko explained excess nitrogen in the Wareham River will lead to a loss of eelgrass which she described as an “indicator species,” meaning when eelgrass dies, it is an indication of poor water quality in the river which will decrease property values, she said

“[Eelgrass is] one of the first species that will go when you have too much nitrogen in your water,” she said. “Eelgrass is also a nursery for a lot of communities including scallops.”

Rudenko said the high levels of nitrogen in the Wareham River are caused mostly by “individual septic systems which are not designed to remove nitrogen.” She added cranberry bogs also contribute nitrogen to the Wareham River Watershed.

All of the wastewater product from town sewerage goes through the Pollution Control Facility before being released into a “very shallow” part of the Agawam River, according to Rudenko.

Currently, the facility discharges 1.56 million gallons of water per day into the river and in order to meet state nitrogen regulations, that number would need to increase to 2.5 million gallons per day.

However, the town is limited to 1.56 million gallons per day by their permit with the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System, the program that oversees wastewater facilities. In order to increase the discharge to 2.5 million gallons per day, the town would need to conduct studies to prove the river can handle the increase without any negative environmental consequences.

Additionally, the town would need to find a new location further up the Agawam River to accommodate the extra million gallons of wastewater per day. Sewer Commission Chair Jim Giberti said this would likely be a temporary solution before finding a different location.

“The river doesn’t flow fast enough and you don’t have enough flushing action,” Giberti said.

Furthermore, the 2.5 million gallons per day only accommodates the nitrogen from the Wareham River Watershed. Rudenko said the Weweantic River and Buttermilk Bay watersheds are also nitrogen compromised and the Agawam River may not be able to handle the influx of nitrogen from the Wareham River, Weweantic River and Buttermilk Bay watersheds.

While it is currently unknown how compromised the two watersheds are, Rudenko said finding a discharge location that feeds into the ocean would provide a fast enough flow to accommodate the extra wastewater.

A proposed oceanic discharge location is the Cape Cod Canal. Giberti said finding a way to discharge into the Cape Cod canal would allow the town to discharge all of their wastewater and then some for "probably 100 years.”

Once the comprehensive wastewater management proposal is approved, the town needs to initiate studies on the Agawam River and Cape Cod Canal to determine how much wastewater each body of water can handle without presenting environmental risk.

Rudenko added the studies would likely take around five years to complete.

Giberti said at this time, it is unclear how the town would be able to get their discharge to the canal due to a long permitting and approval process at the state level.

“All we can do at this time is draw a line on what we think is practical and workable and then we’ll have to investigate it,” he said.

Another potential project Rudenko and Greenberg are looking into include expanding sewerage in town and upgrading the pollution control facility.

Rudenko said a number of areas in town could be switched from septic to sewer depending on the discharge location.

If sewerage is added, the pollution control facility would have to be expanded but before that could be done, Giberti said the 50-year-old facility needs to be fixed to help the plant run better and prevent anything from breaking down.

“Right now we’re trying to get the plant in better operation than it is,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of money that’s going to be spent on the plant itself in just stabilizing and upgrading.”

If the town is able to discharge into the canal, Giberti said neighboring communities would potentially send their wastewater to be treated in Wareham which would benefit the town financially.