CRMC funds 8 habitat restoration projects

March 12, 2009, WAKEFIELD – The RI Coastal Resources Management Council has awarded funding for eight habitat restoration projects through its RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund.

The Council approved the funding at the January 27 semi-monthly meeting in Providence.  Projects approved for funding include four fish passage restoration projects on the Lower Pawtuxet, Blackstone, Pawcatuck and Woonasquatucket Rivers, as well as salt marsh restoration projects located in Newport and Bristol. The remainder of the funding will be used to purchase low ground pressure equipment for the R.I. Department of Environmental Management (DEM), which will be made available for use in habitat restoration projects statewide.

“The CRMC continues to see many quality restoration project proposals come in each year,” said CRMC Chairman Michael M. Tikoian. “It is a testament to the program that we now have such a competitive selection process, which allows the project team to choose the best restoration projects in the state. Rhode Island’s coastal and estuarine habitats – and all residents – continue to reap the benefits of this program.”

The Council approved $50,000 in funds toward the Lower Pawtuxet River Restoration project in Warwick. The Narragansett Bay Estuary Program (NBEP), with the help of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Restore America’s Estuaries (RAE), Save The Bay, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Rhode Island Corporate Wetlands Restoration Partnership (CWRP), and American Rivers, will restore seven miles of anadromous fish habitat by breaching or partially removing Pawtuxet Falls Dam in Warwick and Cranston. Breaching the dam will restore passage and habitat for several fish species including American shad and river herring, as well as restoring a wide range of additional riverine ecosystem functions. The awarded funds will be used as match for federal funding of project construction activities in 2009.

The Blackstone River Watershed Council and Friends of the Blackstone received $50,000 from the Trust Fund for continued restoration of the Blackstone River Fish Passage in Pawtucket. Along with the USDA NRCS, Pawtucket Hydro, LLC and the city of Pawtucket, the groups are working to restore anadromous fish passage across the first four dams on the lower Blackstone River. The restoration will restore fish runs that have been obstructed for almost 200 years, as well as allow for fishing, canoeing, kayaking, historic tours and provide economic benefits to the four municipalities in the project area.

The Council also awarded $9,879 to the NRCS and DEM for the continued restoration of the Silver Creek Salt Marsh, a 13-acre tidal estuary on the eastern shore of Bristol Harbor. The creek is tidally restricted by an old railroad bridge, the Route 114 bridge and a town-owned foot bridge. These restrictions have impounded freshwater, diminished connectivity with the Bay and have allowed for Phragmites australis expansion in the salt marsh. The project will improve tidal flow and flushing, reduce the Phragmites population, restore the native salt marsh plant community, reduce freshwater impoundment, reduce mosquito breeding habitat and reestablish vegetation on mud flats in the lower marsh.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), USDA NRCS and the town of Richmond received $50,000 from the Trust Fund toward additional work on the Shannock Falls Fish Passage Restoration project. This project includes removal of the Lower Shannock Falls Dam, which was funded last year. Completion of the project will open the Pawcatuck River system to nearly 1,300 acres of upstream spawning and rearing habitat for diadromous fish. The awarded funds will be used towards construction activities including sediment analyses, construction oversight services, project management and bedrock removal.

The Council approved $25,000 in funds for the city of Newport and the Aquidneck Island Land Trust toward its work on the Gooseneck Cove Salt Marsh Restoration project. The 63-acre salt marsh is tidally restricted by the Ocean Drive Causeway, a small dam, and a dirt road, all three of which restrict tidal salt water flow and have degraded the habitat and water quality in the marsh. The project will restore the salt marsh plants, prevent future marsh subsidence, and improve the cove’s water quality by restoring tidal flushing. The project will also include public access improvements.

The USDA NRCS and USFWS also received approximately $29,000 in Trust Fund monies toward the Manton Pond Dam Fish Passage Restoration project in Johnston. The project aims to restore fish passage to the entire length of the lower Woonasquatucket River, formerly a prime spawning habitat. Manton Pond Dam is the last of five dams in a long-term restoration for the lower part of the river. It is the final step in a project to restore spawning habitat for an estimated annual return of 40,000 adult blueback herring, alewife and shad. The focus of the project will be to plan, design and construct a fishway at Manton Dam.  Awarded funds will be used for planning and design of the proposed fishway.

The Council awarded more than $6,000 toward the Brenton Cove Salt Marsh Restoration project in Newport. The city, along with the Brenton Cove Condo Association and the DEM Mosquito Abatement Coordination Office, plans to reopen existing mosquito ditches to reduce stormwater ponding in the back portion of the four-acre salt marsh, which opens to the seaward side to Newport Harbor. The project will also allow for control of the invasive Phragmites that has overtaken parts of the marsh.
The Trust Fund also provided $12,500 to the DEM for the purchase of a rubber-tracked, low-ground-pressure utility vehicle that will be used to transport soil excavated from salt marsh water management projects to upland disposal sites. It can also be used to spray herbicide in Phragmites control projects.

Habitat restoration projects are funded through the RI Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund and are selected from recommendations by the RI Habitat Restoration Team, established by CRMC, Save The Bay and the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program in 1998. Members of the team serve as a technical advisory committee for the CRMC as required by law. Funds for the program come from the state’s Oil Spill Prevention Administration and Response Act (OSPAR), established by the legislature following the 1996 North Cape oil spill. Each year, the Trust Fund and CRMC receive $225,000 from the OSPAR account to fund habitat restoration projects in the state.

To date and including this year, the Trust Fund has awarded $1.4 million for 48 projects, which have leveraged more than $13 million in matching funds. This year’s funding leveraged more than $2.8 million, at a leverage ratio of more than 12 to 1.

The full 2008-2009 Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund report will be available on CRMC’s web site at http://www.crmc.ri.gov/habitatrestoration.html.  Photos of the projects are available upon request.

The site of the Lower Pawtuxet River Restoration Project in Warwick. Photo courtesy of the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program