The Vineyard’s coastal ponds are in trouble, and nothing short of bold action will save them.

That, like the simple fact that climate change is occurring, needs to be the starting premise as reasonable minds debate exactly how to address this looming environmental crisis.

The Tisbury board of health should be applauded, not castigated, for putting its oars in murky waters with a proposed new bylaw that seeks to slow the amount of nitrogen entering the Lagoon Pond and Lake Tashmoo by levying fees on new development around the two ponds. Revisions to the bylaw are likely and in order before it reaches a final vote, probably in the next couple of weeks.

Some critics of the bylaw, for example, have raised valid concerns about its fairness. Taxing only new development without regard for wastewater produced by existing dwellings — while protecting longtime homeowners from an unexpected new cost — could have the effect of asking newcomers to pay for the sins of their neighbors.

Already there are indications that the fees may be dropped in favor of another model when the board drafts its final version of the bylaw.

But other critics have strayed well off the reservation by questioning the methodology and science used to evaluate the nitrogen problem. Among other things, they have taken sharp aim at the work of the Massachusetts Estuaries Project.

Certainly the estuaries project has been far from perfect — it took years longer to complete than originally planned, and has been plagued at times by funding problems and political infighting. Still, the approach taken by the project to measuring nitrogen loads in saltwater ponds and estuaries is widely considered to be sound.

And experts, including William Wilcox, the respected longtime water quality planner for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, now retired, leave no doubt that there is a strong link between increased development and pond water deterioration.

Enough, already. Baseless attempts to tarnish the credibility of the estuaries project serve only as a distraction from the urgent need to begin developing rules to control the amount of nitrogen entering ponds.

That recent public hearings held by the Tisbury board of health on its proposed bylaw seemed to attract more critics than supporters is not surprising. Who wants to spend a summer evening in a hearing room debating public policy?

But here’s an activity that might spur you to action. On a calm summer morning, rent a kayak from Wind’s Up in Vineyard Haven and go out on the pond. Skirt Hine’s Point, point toward the drawbridge and turn south. From there it’s a pleasant, easy paddle to the head of the pond, a marshy place fed by freshwater streams where wild watercress grows in the spring. There’s a herring run in the upper pond too, named for Richard Madeiras, the late Oak Bluffs shellfish constable.

Along the journey you will encounter sunfish sailors, paddle boarders and possibly quahauggers if the tide is out. Roughly midway down the western edge of the pond you will pass the solar hatchery run by the Martha’s Vineyard Shellfish Group.

Then look landward, and you will see lots of houses, many with lawns running down to the edge of the pond.

And a clear study in contradictions will begin to emerge. Here is the shellfish group, dedicated to supporting the traditional Island way of life and health of saltwater ponds by growing seed clams and bay scallops. And here is a pond in trouble, fed by too much nitrogen from septic systems, and also fertilizer on lawns. The telltale signs include yearly algae blooms, especially in late summer and fall and especially at the head of the pond, where the water is brackish and circulation is lowest.

The Tisbury board of health is paddling in the right direction. Let them know you appreciate and support their bold efforts to save a critical Island resource.