NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
PARTNERING TO RESTORE A COASTAL POND 4>EPA
On September 21,2007, salt water from Mount Hope Bay flowed into Town Pond, a historic coastal pond on Narragansett Bay, for the first time in 53 years.
The area had been filled as a disposal site for dredged material around 1950, completely destroying its value as a marine and estuarine habitat. The res-
toration will provide habitat for a rich variety of fish and wildlife, from oysters and blue crabs to flounder and great blue herons.
THE NATIONAL ESTUARY PROGRAM IN ACTION
Narragansett Bay Estuary Program
The 2007 restoration marked the
culmination of more than seven
years of planning, engineer-
ing, and construction, achieved
through a partnership of Federal,
state, local, and non-govern-
mental organizations.
The Narragansett Bay Estuary
Program (NBEP) played an ac-
tive role throughout the resto-
ration process: working with
the community to build support,
convening technical experts
to design the restoration, and
working with governmental and
non-governmental organizations
to secure nearly six million dol-
lars for construction of the larg-
est wetland restoration project
ever undertaken on Narragan-
sett Bay.
Until 1950, Town Pond was a 40-
acre tidal pond with salt marshes
along its edges, connected to the
salt waters of Mount Hope Bay
by a large tidal channel. During
dredging operations for the Fall
River, Mass., shipping channel,
the pond was filled with mud
dredged from the bottom of the
Bay. The fill operation prevented
tidal exchange to the interior of
the marsh by raising the area
above high tide, and over the
next several decades, the former
pond evolved from a mudflat to
a 40-acre monoculture of the in-
vasive reed Phragmites.
In the late 1990's, the late Sen.
John Chafee authorized the R.I.
Ecosystem Restoration Study at
the request of NBEP. The effort
was undertaken by the Corps,
NBEP and other partners to
identify coastal restoration op-
portunities throughout Rhode
Island's coastal areas. One such
opportunity identified was Town
Pond. Under Section 1135 of the
Federal Water Resources Devel-
opment Act, the Corps is funded
to restore coastal sites damaged
by past navigational projects. The
Federal government provides
75 percent of the cost of these
projects; local partners must pay
the remainder. The Narragansett
Bay Estuary Program, R.I. De-
partment of Environmental Man-
agement (RIDEM) and the Corps
worked with Federal, state and
local partners through the R.I.
Habitat Restoration Team to de-
velop a restoration plan for Town
Pond.
The project restores more than
20 acres of historic salt pond
habitat as well as fringing wet-
lands, coastal grassland habitat,
and public access to the shore-
line. In so doing, it is intended
to restore spawning habitat
Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
EFFECTIVE
EFFICIENT
ADAPTIVE
COLLABORATIVE
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for winter flounder and critical
habitat for a variety of valuable
estuarine plants and animals,
including oysters, blue crabs,
menhaden, and waterfowl such
as brant. The project will also
protect nearby freshwater re-
sources, allow continued mainte-
nance access to existing electric
transmission lines, and provide
for public access and viewing of
the restored habitat. The Town of
Portsmouth is strongly support-
ive of the project and has been a
consistent partner. Much of the
non-Federal funding for the proj-
ect was provided through state
sources such as RIDEM and
the R.I. Coastal and Estuarine
Habitat Restoration Trust Fund,
which is administered by the R.I.
Coastal Resources Management
Council. Additional funding was
provided by the R.I. Corporate
Wetlands Partnership, Ducks
Unlimited, and Aquidneck Is-
land Land Trust. Roger Williams
University provided significant
in-kind contribution through real
estate easements, and is now
leading a project to restore oys-
ters in the pond.
Visit www.nbep.org to learn
more about this and other NBEP
efforts.
EPA's National Estuary Program
(NEP) is a unique and successful
coastal watershed-based program
established in 1987 under the
Clean Water Act Amendments.
The NEP involves the public and
collaborates with partners to pro-
tect, restore, and maintain the wa-
ter quality and ecological integrity
of 28 estuaries of national signifi-
cance located in 18 coastal states
and Puerto Rico.
For more information about the
NEP go to www.epa.gov/owow/
estuaries.
The NEP: Implementing the Clean Water Act in ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptive, and Collaborative.
EPA-842F09001
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