CRMC adopts Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan

May 11, 2005, WAKEFIELD — The members of the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council approved the Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) at its semi-monthly meeting last night. The plan, which the council has been developing with other agencies and groups for more than two years, will now go to the RI Statewide Planning Council for approval as an element to the State Guide Plan, and then given to Warwick, East Greenwich and West Warwick for incorporation into their comprehensive plans.

The Greenwich Bay SAMP is a tool to protect Greenwich Bay, a five-square-mile estuary, for all who use it. The bay is part of a larger 21-square-mile watershed that encompasses the three municipalities. In recent years, pollution has caused closures of Greenwich Bay shellfish beds and swimming beaches, and shoreline development has brought with it user conflicts and loss of fish and wildlife habitat.

CRMC contracted the University of Rhode Island's Coastal Resources Center to aid in the SAMP development, and the Council and CRC worked with the municipalities, the state Department of Environmental Management, the Department of Health, the Economic Development Corporation and the Warwick Sewer Authority. The five major goals of the SAMP are:

• Develop leaders and stewards to coordinate and implement actions that protect the unique resources of Greenwich Bay;
• Improve Greenwich Bay's water quality so that it is a safe place to fish and swim;
• Maintain high quality fish and wildlife habitat in the Greenwich Bay watershed;
• Improve recreational opportunities on Greenwich Bay and its shoreline; and
• Enhance water-dependent economic development on Greenwich Bay and its shoreline to maintain the area's unique sense of place.

The Greenwich Bay SAMP might also serve as the basis for a Total Maximum Daily Load for the DEM to address nutrient and dissolved oxygen deficiencies in the bays and surrounding areas. The DEM plans to seek approval for the SAMP from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an alternative to a TMDL, as part of the state's 2006 Integrated Report.

Special Area Management Plans provide for increased specificity in protecting significant natural resources, reasonable coastal-dependent economic growth, improved protection of life and property in hazardous areas, including those likely to be affected by land subsidence, a rise in sea level or fluctuating water levels, and improved predictability in governmental decision making. The policies, regulations and other actions within the Greenwich Bay SAMP are designed to ensure the preservation of the vital elements of the ecosystem, to guide future development within land and water limitations and to resolve existing and possible future problems.

"The CRMC and all the other stakeholders - the municipalities, federal and state agencies and concerned citizens of the watershed - worked very hard to development this management plan," said CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian. "The Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan will ensure that the natural resources of the bay and watershed are properly managed, and that there will be a more organized and sensitive plan for future development. The SAMP will hopefully guarantee the bay and watershed's integrity for future generations."

Following its adoption by the Council, the SAMP will now be submitted to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for review and adoption, and then to the Secretary of State's office. It will then be sent to the State Planning Council and to the municipalities early this summer.