Cape Ann contains several key water, sewer, and electrical infrastructures. Many of these infrastructures are at or below sea level.

Cape Ann’s water supply system is one of its most resilient features and supplies much of the fresh water used by residents. The region’s robust water infrastructure includes redundant treatment facilities and reservoirs, which can be used in the event of an emergency.

Cape Ann already experiences frequent power outages.¹² Additional trunk lines through downtown Manchester and across the Annisquam River should be explored and electrical substations relocated from the FEMA floodplain.³ Power lines should be reinforced with concrete pylons to protect them from high winds.

Gloucester and Manchester-by-the-Sea’s wastewater treatment plants are at or below sea level. These infrastructures pose both immediate and long-term risks if they flood and release effluent into the harbors. In addition to existing efforts to construct a berm around the West Gloucester Treatment Plant, the Cape Ann region should begin plans for a wastewater supply system outside the realm of the future floodplain.

Water, electric, and wastewater supply systems are critical infrastructures. There are different adaptation techniques that can be used to protect each of these systems.

Municipalities must prioritize the most critical infrastructure to invest in and account for the ongoing maintenance costs associated with these systems.

Gloucester draws on two primary reservoirs, Babson and Goose Cove, which are supplemented by Klondike, Dykes, Haskell, and Wallace Pond Reservoirs. Fernwood Lake acts as a backup reservoir, supplementing the water supply during times of drought. Rockport draws on Cape Pond and Carlson’s Quarry for its water supply. Manchester-by-the-Sea draws most of its water from Gravelly Pond, in neighboring Hamilton, along with wells on Lincoln Street and Round Pound. Essex’s water is supplied by three gravel packed wells, and treated at the Essex Water Filtration Plant.

The wells and seven reservoirs across Cape Ann should be protected with larger buffer zones to reduce contamination. This requires unbuilding the 305 structures and roadways within 500 feet of all water supply infrastructure.⁴⁵⁶

The region’s electrical system relies on a single, buried trunk line that enters Manchester-by-the-Sea from Beverly through Chubb’s Creek Marsh and runs through downtown Manchester.⁷ This area is at severe risk of flooding. Buried electrical infrastructure is subject to corrosion from salt water and is more challenging to access and repair.⁸

There are also seven electrical substations that supply power to Cape Ann. These substations distribute power from Phase 1, 2, and 3 feeder lines to buildings across Cape Ann. The Gloucester and Manchester-by-the-Sea substations are in the FEMA floodplain and should be relocated to higher elevations inland. The Riverdale, Gorton-Quincy, and Quincy Market substations should be elevated.

Feeder lines and electrical poles in the floodplain should be reinforced with concrete or fiberglass poles to help them weather heavy winds. The wind turbines in Blackburn Industrial Park should be maintained, but each municipality should incentivize adding solar panels to existing structures to improve the electrical grid’s resilience.

The Riverdale Electrical Substation in Gloucester is projected to flood during a 1% storm by 2070. The substation equipment should be elevated above the Design Flood Elevation to prevent corrosion and power outages in the near future.

Above-ground lines are vulnerable to high winds, flying debris and falling trees. The existing electric poles in floodplains should be reinforced with concrete. Routine maintenance, including tree trimming and replanting street trees with lower canopies (like black pine or native species such as serviceberry, hornbeam, dogwoods and redbuds), should be a priority for each local government.⁹

Cape Ann’s wastewater system is vulnerable to sea level rise and storm surge. The effects of flooding at the West Gloucester Treatment Plant or Manchester-by-the-Sea Plant would be catastrophic: effluent pouring out of the systems would flow directly into the Harbor, damaging sensitive habitats and decimating shellfishing beds.

The berm around the West Gloucester Wastewater Treatment Plant, a short-term investment by the City, is already under construction.¹⁰ The berm should be mirrored on the right bank of the Annisquam River with a dike system to protect the houses on Perkins Road as well as Gloucester High School, where the parking lot already floods during nor’easters.¹¹ A walk above the dike provides additional recreational space and meets the grade of the elevated Cut Bridge.

The water and electric cables under the Annisquam River that cross from West to East Gloucester should be duplicated to provide redundancy in the event of an emergency.

The existing wastewater treatment plant should be phased out by 2040 and a new regional wastewater treatment plant constructed on nearby municipal land, replacing the Manchester and Gloucester plants. The Manchester treatment plant should be deconstructed immediately and its wastewater flow transferred to Gloucester. It will cost an estimated $2 to $5 million to transfer Manchester’s wastewater requirements to another community.¹²

The buffer zone around the Lincoln Well is enlarged, and the Essex County Club excavates retention ponds around Sawmill Brook.

Electric lines through Good Harbor Marsh are reinforced with concrete poles to protect them from high winds.

The Wastewater Treatment Plant in Manchester-by-the-Sea is moved to the Cape Ann Regional Plant. The land is converted into an industrial phytoremediation park for residents along the waterfront.

Utilities are elevated above the ground floor on Bearskin Neck.

In the event of a large storm, Cape Ann’s supply systems will likely be down for several weeks. The water system, one of Cape Ann’s most resilient features, will be salinated.

Each community should proactively invest in upgrades to their water and wastewater supply systems while pursuing regional action to duplicate the feeder line entering Manchester-by-the-Sea and move wastewater treatment plants out of the projected flood zone.