Who We Are

About massbays

MassBays is one of 28 National Estuary Programs (NEPs) under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. Our study area extends from Salisbury on the New Hampshire border to Provincetown at the tip of Cape Cod, stretching along 1100 miles of coastline.

We envision a network of healthy and resilient estuaries, sustainable ecosystems that support life and communities dependent upon them.

Our mission is to empower 50 coastal communities to protect, restore, and enhance their coastal habitats. To do this, MassBays engages local, state, and federal entities to advance the use of scientific information and provide technical support for better decision making.

MassBays is a Center in the School for the Environment at University of Massachusetts Boston. While our work is non-regulatory, MassBays maintains close partnerships with state agencies as we support and carry out <applied research> to inform effective policy. We also develop tools and programs that increase capacity among municipal and nonprofit partners. Our five Regional Service Providers provide local technical assistance to communities with whom they have forged close relationships.

This story map provides a peek at some of the work MassBays does as part of the National Estuary Program.

Our Annual Work Plan (320 work plan and BIL work plan) provides detailed descriptions of projects planned and underway across the Bays.

In the 1980's, Boston Harbor was considered one of the filthiest in the nation. A significant cause of the problem was an antiquated sewage treatment facility situated on Deer Island, which discharged approximately 138 tons of wastewater and sludge just one-half mile offshore into the harbor every day. In 1982, the City of Quincy and EPA filed a suit against the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for violations of the Clean Water Act in Boston Harbor and won. The Massachusetts Bays Program was launched in 1988 with a charge to administer a portion of the settlement payments to bring scientists to diagnose the problem and suggest solutions. That same year, the program was nominated into the National Estuary Program (NEP) with the support of public officials, environmental organizations, state and federal legislators, business leaders, scientists, and private citizens. On Earth Day in April 1990 EPA announced its favorable decision, and the NEP was formed through a cooperative agreement between the Commonwealth and EPA. The geographic area of the NEP currently encompasses more than Boston Harbor and Massachusetts Bay, and includes Cape Cod Bay, extends north to Ipswich Bay and the New Hampshire border, and offshore to the boundary of the limits of these Bays.

With the relocation of the sewer outfall from Boston Harbor to an outfall that discharges secondary treated water 9 miles offshore into Massachusetts Bay, Boston Harbor's water quality, ecosystems, and surrounding environment improved considerably. This short documentary (courtesy of Boston Harbor Now) provides a comparison of the changes in Boston Harbor over the past 50 years. As the major event that created the Massachusetts Bays Program and eventually established the NEP, MassBays' mission continues to build on that legacy and continues to encourage, inform, and support communities to take action across its geographic area.

The National Estuary Program (NEP) is an EPA place-based program to protect and restore the water quality and ecological integrity of estuaries of national significance. Currently, 28 estuaries located along the Atlantic, Gulf, and Pacific coasts and in Puerto Rico are designated as estuaries of national significance under Section 320 of the Clean Water Act. Each NEP focuses within a study area that includes the estuary and surrounding watershed. For more information, visit https://www.epa.gov/nep

The 2023-2033 CCMP for the Ipswich, Massachusetts, and Cape Cod Bays is the product of multiple years of effort, extensive stakeholder input, and the application of innovative methods for ecosystem-based, active management. It highlights recent accomplishments as well as areas where more work is needed – or where approaches must be changed. Impacts and responses to climate change, and engagement in environmental justice are consistent and core strands to the proposed goals, strategies, and actions. We know we cannot predict our successes in the next 10 years, and that even 10 years is not enough time to fix the legacies of past activities or to address the coming impacts of new conditions. But we do know how we propose to spend those next 10 years: prioritizing habitat restoration and protection in the Bays; tracking and reporting on habitat conditions; and building capacity across the region to support this work. For more information, visit Blueprint for the Bays.