CRMC: 2015 in review

The year 2015 was another year of growth and advancement for the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC). Coastline resiliency, habitat restoration projects, growth in the aquaculture industry, and continuing the tradition of collaboration were highlights of the year, along with some firsts.

Advancing the State’s response to Sea Level Rise

All of the new tools and products to assist the state, municipalities and coastal property owners in their efforts to address future impacts from climate change are being developed through the CRMC Shoreline Change Special Area Management Plan (also known as the Beach SAMP), which is a comprehensive effort to address sea level rise, coastal shoreline erosion and coastal storm surge flood inundation. The Beach SAMP is intended to provide the best available information to assess risk and vulnerability of coastal property and public infrastructure, and to develop adaptation strategies to reduce the impacts from climate change. The Beach SAMP website has lots of information and links to tools and products. See: www.beachsamp.org.

StormTools – an outgrowth of the Beach SAMP development process, StormTools is a mapping tool developed by the URI Ocean Engineering, URI Coastal Resources Center/RI Sea Grant and CRMC team to provide the state, municipalities and property owners information on sea level rise, and coastal flood inundation. There are two versions, one for homeowners called “StormTools for Beginners” that provide basic information a property owner would need and “StormTools for Municipalities” that provides more in depth analyses to assess infrastructure risk. Both are accessed through the Beach SAMP website here: https://stormtools-mainpage-crc-uri.hub.arcgis.com/ The Beach SAMP team has conducted all six of the coastal Washington County municipal training sessions to-date (Charlestown, North Kingstown, South Kingstown, Narragansett and Westerly, and Block Island).

Additionally, at the urging of the CRMC, the state Division of Planning is requiring that all communities address impacts and strategies for climate change, sea level rise and natural hazards in their Comprehensive Community Development Plans. StormTools will be a valuable, applicable tool for these municipalities, and will provide the data and information needed to help them meet this new statewide requirement.

The CRMC is developing, through a partnership with URI Ocean Engineering and URI Coastal Resources Center/RI Sea Grant, a Coastal Environmental Risk Index (CERI) pilot project to assess risk and damage costs in coastal communities. The project will be completed in early 2017, and is currently focused on two municipalities – Charlestown and Warwick – with the intention of expanding the CERI project statewide if the CRMC can secure additional funding.

The CRMC was also awarded federal funding through the RI Office of Housing and Community Development to develop a hydrological/hydraulic model for the Pawtuxet River watershed to examine the historic flooding behavior of the watershed-river system. The model will map the flood extent for the river floodplain during the past events and for specific scenarios (e.g., 25, 50 and 100-yr events). The plan is to link this riverine model within the existing StormTools model to assess the combined flooding impacts of riverine and coastal where rivers discharge into the Bay. The tool will then be used for recommendations with regard to mitigation and planning for flooding.

Some firsts for Rhode Island (and the nation)

This year, the CRMC and State of Rhode Island saw the beginning of construction on the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Throughout the year, the CRMC Council was apprised of the project’s progress by the independent Certified Verification Agent (CVA), including the installation of the support structures for the wind turbines off Block Island.  Deepwater has completed construction according to schedule for 2015, and the installation of the turbines will take place in summer of 2016. The developer is required under the policies put forth in the Ocean Special Area Management Plan (Ocean SAMP) to hire an independent CVA who is to regularly report to the Council on the design, fabrication and installation of the facility. The CVA is nominated for Council approval by the applicant, and the CVA’s qualifications are vetted through a public process before the Council, for ultimate approval or disapproval.
The Council also permitted the first commercial shellfish hatchery in Rhode Island. The farm will be located on Ninigret Pond in Charlestown, and the implications for the industry are very promising. If successful, the farm could supply seed for Rhode Island aquaculturists – and possibly those in other neighboring states – and eliminate the need for pathology testing (seed is currently imported).

Through coordination with the CRMC, Rhode Island now has its first FORTIFIED home, on Teal Drive in South Kingstown. The national program, an effort of the Insurance Institute of Business and Home Safety (IBHS), has been introduced in selected states in the southern Atlantic and Gulf Coast region.

Through coordination with the Council, R.I. State Building Commission, and University of Rhode Island Coastal Resources Center and R.I. Sea Grant, IBHS is making Rhode Island the beachhead for the FORTIFIED program in the northern Atlantic states.

The program offers a set of engineering and building standards designed to make new and existing homes more resilient to specific natural hazards, through system-specific upgrades to minimum building code requirements. The program has three levels – bronze, silver and gold – that build upon each other, allowing the homeowner to choose the desired protection level in accordance with budget and resilience goals.

Restoration

A number of habitat restoration and dredging projects are being managed by the CRMC, including a project at Narrow River that will serve as a pilot for future marsh restoration projects in the state. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) received an award from the DOI for marsh elevation and restoration work to be done within the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge on the Narrow River. The CRMC will be working directly with USFWS as a subcontractor for the dredging portion of the project.

Dredging and beneficial re-use of dredged material for marsh restoration is planned for Ninigret Pond as part of the Salt Ponds restoration project also funded through DOI. In June, the CRMC received an award of $3.25 million to conduct coastal wetland restoration and planning within the Salt Ponds Region in southern Rhode Island, specifically within Ninigret, Quonochontaug and Winnapaug Ponds. Planning for these projects is in progress with dredging in Ninigret Pond expected to happen in the winter of 2016.

Program Advancements

The updated Shoreline Change Maps for Washington County are completed, and the CRMC is working on loading them onto the CRMC web site. These maps will now include Narrow River, which the CRMC did not have previously. Go to http://www.crmc.ri.gov/maps/maps_shorechange.html to view the existing maps.

The Council will conduct a public hearing on proposed amendments to the RI Coastal Resources Management Program, Section 145, to update sea level rise (SLR) projections for 2035, 2050 and 2100 using current National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) models, and based on the Newport, RI NOAA tide gauge. The CRMC’s existing policy in Section 145 is to periodically review the latest scientific data regarding SLR. The proposed amendment would give the State and municipalities proper projections for SLR, which they can then use in consideration of future investments and natural resource restoration efforts. The hearing will take place on January 26, 2016 at the semi-monthly Council meeting.

Public Access

Through its oversight of the Providence Harbor Management Plan, the first for the city, the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) has become an integral player in public access improvements in a number of different areas in Providence.

The CRMC worked with the City of Providence to create their HMP – a major component of which was promoting public access – by working with the city and the other partners to add more instances and a better variety of public access. CRMC staff also worked with the Providence harbormaster and the Providence Harbor Commission to identify potential mooring fields to be adopted under the plan. From eight potential locations, one was identified as appropriate for a mooring field that accommodates 10 moorings. Three others were identified for a total of 12 moorings for transient anchorage – two in Old Harbor, five at the eastern end of India Point Park, and five in the Seekonk River adjacent to the Gano Street Park boat launch ramp.

The 12 transient moorings are being offered through the revival of a US Fish and Wildlife Service program designed to encourage transient boaters to explore Rhode Island harbors. The RI Department of Environmental Management is the state agency that will administer the funding and program. Through its involvement in the Providence HMP process, the CRMC coordinated with DEM to include the transient anchorage program in the Providence HMP, making the Council instrumental in identifying the three locations for those transient moorings.

The CRMC provided technical assistance to the Seekonk Riverbank Revitalization Alliance (which includes members of the Blackstone Park Conservancy and Narragansett Boat Club) regarding improvements to Blackstone Park where it occurs along the Seekonk River in Providence. Proposed changes to the waterfront along a section of River Road in Providence include a modified two-way traffic flow, a multi-use path, increased recreational fishing and kayaking opportunities, as well as additional rights-of-way with associated parking. Significant upgrades to the storm water management infrastructure have also been proposed, with the CRMC continuing its role for the execution of the project.

The CRMC also served as an advisor to City Walk, a public-private collaboration led by the Providence Plan and the Jewelry District Association. City Walk’s goal is to establish a network of pedestrian-bicycle pathways that link core neighborhoods in Providence to India Point Park, the city’s premiere coastal waterfront park. The CRMC conducted research on shoreline public access, specifically the existence of the Harbor View Trail, a former initiative that was never implemented, designed to create a walkway similar to Boston’s Freedom Trail with points of information posted along the route. The CRMC discovered plans exist, should City Walk decide to implement the walkway.

Finally, the CRMC can trace its significant contributions to improved public access to the shore in Providence to its discovery of the East Transit Street Right-of-Way, which led to a partnership creating the existing Gano Street boat ramp, the second in the city. CRMC staff discovered the adjacent auto repair shop was using city property to store automobiles; after notifying the city, the CRMC and the Providence Parks Department developed plans for the launch facility that exists today. The CRMC was the driver of this initiative from start to finish – the Council notified DEM of the funding opportunity under the Federal Aid and Sportfish Restoration Act to construct the facility – and pursued to matter for several years until the facility’s dedication on July 14, 2014.

Dredging

The CRMC is serving in an advisory role in the proposed Winnapaug Pond dredging project, being managed by the Town of Westerly with funding support from the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The town plans to dredge material that was washed into the pond during Superstorm Sandy. CRMC staff is providing technical assistance for the proposed project, and has encouraged that the dredged material be beneficially reused to increase the elevation of the degraded marsh. Communication between the CRMC and town is ongoing.