Annual Report 2024

President’s Message

• This past year has seen new opportunities and projects for Falmouth Water Stewards, thanks to the hard work, initiative, and dedication of our volunteer board of directors, support from the community, and encouragement from our membership.
• Our mission is to educate, inform, and engage our membership with our semi-annual newsletters, website, outreach with news and events to our members via Constant Contact and Facebook, participation in local events (e.g., Falmouth Academy and Falmouth High School Science Fairs, and Woods Hole Science Stroll), and meeting and working with other organizations concerned with the health of Cape Cod’s environment.
• Our Falmouth Water ReUse ReFill Program has supported the installation and maintenance of over 20 water stations throughout Falmouth, located at recreational areas and beaches. FWS board member Susan Baur, founder of the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage (OLAUG), doubled the number of ponds they cleaned while expanding their work from Cape Cod into Plymouth. The group removes cans, bottles, balls, tires and more from ponds. With the help of FWS’s Chris Clark, the ladies removed an 85-pound toilet from Johns Pond in Mashpee. We have also partnered with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod to monitor cyanobacteria blooms in Falmouth freshwater ponds, and assist in monitoring and data reporting for the Cape Cod Commission Freshwater Pond Initiative. Our annual Pond Summit provides a public forum to learn the status of water quality in Falmouth ponds, and how best to manage and improve our local ponds.