CRMC, South Coast project partners receive Coastal America Award

June 9, 2009, CHARLESTOWN –The Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC), along with its project partners, received national recognition from Coastal America for work on the South Coast Habitat Restoration Project on Monday, June 8 at the Ninigret Park and National Wildlife Refuge in Charlestown, R.I.

Coastal America, launched in 1991 as a collaboration between federal, state and local governments and other groups to solve coastal problems, awarded the CRMC and its partners with the 2008 Coastal America Partnership Award for its work on the South Coast Habitat Restoration Project in early 2009.

Project sponsors include the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the CRMC, with support from the R.I. Department of Environmental Management (DEM) the University of Rhode Island, the Salt Ponds Coalition, and the towns of South Kingstown, Charlestown and Westerly.

Those present at the awards ceremony included U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), who helped secure more than $500,000 in federal funding for the project and the restoration of Ninigret and Winnepaug Ponds; Colonel Philip T. Feir of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Laura Furgione, assistant administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Virginia Tippie, director of Coastal America, CRMC officials and representatives from the towns of Charlestown, South Kingstown and Westerly. Coastal America awarded 29 plaques to the project sponsors and others who played an active role in the project, including the eelgrass planting.

“I’m pleased to be here today to recognize the collaborative efforts of the South Coast Habitat Restoration Project Team on your successful project to restore and protect these valuable coastal lagoons,” Furgione said at the ceremony. “Indeed you have raised the bar on restoration projects and have set a high example for others to emulate. I applaud the commitment that all of you have made to restore and protect the important natural resources of…Rhode Island.”

In 1952 the State widened and deepened the natural tidal inlet to Ninigret, Winnapaug and Quonochontaug Ponds, with stone jetties constructed along either side for navigation. The construction of the jetties created a natural funnel effect that deposited large amounts of sand from the ocean inside the ponds. As this continued to occur over the years, formerly plentiful eelgrass beds covering the pond bottom were buried. The habitat restoration team was honored in particular for the work done on the portion of the project including Ninigret Pond.

This project is a perfect example of the great things that can come as the result of the partnership and successful collaboration of interests at the local, state and federal levels,” Reed said. “There are few achievements greater than leaving our environment in better shape for our children than we inherited it. And as we observe the great work that has been done by the South Coast Habitat Restoration Project here at Ninigret Pond and all of the areas that have been restored, it is not difficult to discern the dedication, hard work and vision of the people standing here today.”

The CRMC and its partners began work on the South Coast project in 1997. The habitat restoration portion of the project included restoring 40 acres of eelgrass habitat within Ninigret Pond, the largest of the project’s salt ponds. The tidal delta in the pond was dredged to create a favorable environment for regrowing eelgrass. The Army Corps also constructed a catchment basin in the breachway inlet in order to capture sediment coming in before it emptied into the pond. Sand that was dredged from the pond was pumped just offshore of the adjacent beaches, so that the natural wave movement would deposit the sand along the shoreline, away from the breachways. Monitoring shows that eelgrass has regenerated successfully in both the seeded eelgrass beds and areas that were allowed to grow back naturally. Eelgrass growth has exceeded project expectations, but so did the sedimentation rates within the pond. The catchment basin has already filled to capacity requiring maintenance dredging to ensure the health of the new, lush eelgrass meadows.

“The restoration of these vital coastal lagoons is a striking example of an opportunity that resulted from the identification of critical community needs and the development of key partnerships,” Tippie said. “Through proud environmental stewardship and community involvement this comprehensive and productive partnership has restored and protected important coastal habitat along the southern Rhode Island coast and improved the health of this watershed.”

Michael M. Tikoian, chairman of the CRMC, added, “The CRMC and its partners…have worked long and hard on the South Coast Project, our largest habitat restoration effort to-date. This project was all about partnerships, cooperation and hard work. The CRMC has a long history of habitat restoration in Rhode Island, through the R.I. Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration Trust Fund. We are proud of what we, the Army Corps, towns and our other partners have accomplished with this project.”