Federal, state officials to celebrate RI habitat restoration projects

September 23, 2009

RUMFORD – The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) will recognize the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and its project partners for receiving more than $3 million in federal competitive stimulus funding for six fish passage restoration projects on the Pawcatuck River and the Ten Mile River system.

NOAA Administrator Dr. Jane Lubchenco, along with officials from the City of East Providence, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CRMC, R.I. Department of Environmental Management and the Ten Mile River Watershed Council will hold an event and tour on September 24 at 10:45 a.m. at the future site of the fish ladders at Hunt’s Mills Dam in Rumford.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded the funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, with the intent that only “shovel-ready” projects are eligible for the stimulus monies. The funds will be used by the CRMC, along with its partners, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the R.I. Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM), and the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, to complete high-priority restoration projects already underway. Work on the six projects in Rhode Island began in July 2009.

The Rhode Island River Ecosystem Restoration project will restore and improve riverine habitat for migratory fish species, as well as associated riverine wetlands, upland riparian areas and ecological connections with upstream open water spawning grounds and downstream estuarine systems. Species that will benefit from the restoration include Atlantic salmon, American shad, blueback alewife, sea lamprey, American eel and brook trout, as well as striped bass, bluefish and birds including black crowned night heron and hooded merganser. The project is one of 50 high priority project funded around the nation by the American Recover and Reinvestment Act to restore coastal habitat and revitalize the nation’s economy. NOAA received a total of 814 proposals from 34 states and five territories, totaling more than $3 billion in requests.

Four of the projects – Horseshoe Falls, Omega Pond, Hunts Mills and Turner Reservoir Dams – require construction of Denil fish ladders, and eel passages will be constructed for the projects on the Ten Mile River. The other two projects – Lower Shannock Falls and Kenyon Mills – will require complete or partial removal of dam obstructions. DEM and the other project partners will monitor the fish ladders and fish passage at each location during the summer migration and spring-through-fall out-migration.

The projects will restore access to approximately 13 stream miles and 1,640 acres of spawning habitat, and will also improve habitat and biodiversity in the long-term to Narragansett and Little Narragansett Bays. It will also enhance the state’s fresh and salt water fisheries valued at more than $700 million, and will generate more than 15,000 jobs and improve recreational and educational opportunities for the communities associated with these river systems. Work is slated to begin on the Lower Shannock removal and at the Turner Reservoir and Hunt’s Mills Denil fish ladder next month. Construction will begin by July 2010 and end by December 2010 on the Horseshoe Falls and Omega Pond Dam Denil fish ladders and Kenyon Mills Dam removal.