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

-------
                                                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

-------