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Installing Fish Ladders on the Ten Mile River Restores Historic
Herring Run
Waterbody inprO\/ed Ear,y in the 20th Century, dams were built for water supply arid
electricity generation along the Ten Mile River, blocking passage
of anadromous river herring. To restore the Ten Mile River aquatic ecosystem to its natural state
and allow for movement of anadromous fish, three Denil-style fish passage facilities were installed
at the first three dams on the Ten Mile River—Omega Dam, Hunt's Mill Dam and Turner Reservoir
Dam. Herring are now able to access over 340 acres of valuable nursery and spawning habitat.
Funding for construction came from a wide variety of sources, including federal, state, city and non-
governmental organizations.
Problem
Colonial records indicate that Rhode Island histori-
cally hosted large herring runs on at least 45 rivers
and streams in the Narragansett Bay watershed—one
of the most significant of which was the Ten Mile
River. The Ten Mile River watershed, with a total
drainage area of about 56 square miles, originates in
Massachusetts, crosses into Rhode Island and flows
through the city of East Providence into the Seekonk
River. Historically, anadromous river herring entered
the Ten Mile River from the Seekonk River, swam
upstream through Omega and Hunt's Mill Ponds, and
spawned in Turner Reservoir (Figure 1).
During the industrial revolution, most of Rhode Island's
rivers were dammed to provide power to the many
industrial mills in the state, as well as to provide a
water supply and generate power for electric plants.
These dams prevented passage of native anadromous
river herring, particularly blueback herring, alewife and
American shad, to their historic spawning areas.
River herring are considered a keystone species in
Rhode Island, one that plays a disproportionately large
role in the surrounding ecosystem. In the case of this
small fish, it serves as a food source for everything from
ospreys to striped bass, bluefish, tuna, cod and haddock
to herons and otter. Herring are born in freshwater
ponds and lakes, and then swim out to sea, where they
spend years growing to adulthood before returning to
their birthplace to spawn. Currently 21 streams support
herring runs in Rhode Island but most are impaired to
some degree and in need of restoration.
Project Site
Seekonk
River
East
Providence
New"130
Turner
unt s Mill
Dam
Seekonk
P
Ten Mile
River
Watershed
Taunton A^e
Miles
Figure 1. Herring must traverse multiple dams along
the Ten Mile River.
Story Highlights
For many years, to help maintain the herring fishery,
herring were moved by hand across the dams using
dip nets. Rhode Island Department of Environmental

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Figure 2. A fish ladder was installed to bypass the lurner
Reservoir Dam in 2012.
Management (RIDEM) Division of Fish and Wildlife
staff, Ten Mile River watershed volunteers and dedi-
cated sport fishermen from the Salt Water Anglers
Association assisted with the effort.
Significantly decreased herring returns between 2001
and 2005 prompted a complete moratorium on the
herring fishery in Rhode Island to help increase herring
stocks. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
designed a series of Denil-style fish ladders for the
first three dams along the Ten Mile River so river her-
ring could bypass the Omega Pond Dam, the Hunt's
Mill Dam and the Turner Reservoir Dam (Figures 2
and 3). Fish ladder construction began in 2010 and
was completed in two phases: (1) Turner Reservoir
and Hunt's Mill ladders (completed September 2012)
and (2) Omega Pond fish ladder (completed April
2015). The three fish ladders opened over 340 acres
of spawning and nursery habitat, and approximately
3 miles of riverine spawning habitat for river herring.
Based on the RIDEM's projections, these habitat areas
have the potential to support a fish run of more than
200,000 river herring. Increasing populations of her-
ring will restore this ecosystem's balance.
Results
RIDEM Division of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) staff have
been stocking Turner Reservoir with river herring
brood stock since the fish ladder was completed in
2015. The dedicated sport fishermen and Turner River
Figure 3. A fish ladder, completed in 2012, bypasses Hunt's Miil
Dam on the Ten Mile River.
Watershed Association members who had previously
volunteered their time to hand-dip the herring past
the dams turned their attention to volunteering for
fish counts during the returning herring runs. Herring
returns above the Hunt's Mill Dam have been generally
increasing from a low of 3,200 in 2015 to a preliminary
count of over 10,000 during the 2018 herring run.
While these numbers are encouraging, more work is
needed to remove an additional obstruction down-
stream of the Hunt's Mill Dam. DFW staff are working
with project partners to address a way to correct this
obstruction to increase future herring returns. DFW
staff noted that some river herring might not be com-
pleting the full spawning run to Turner Reservoir and
instead could be spawning in Omega Pond.
Partners and Funding
Federal and state partners have provided techni-
cal and funding support for the projects, including
USACE (stimulus funds: $460,000), National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (stimulus funds:
$630,000); U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural
Resources Conservation Service and the city of
East Providence ($465,000), and the Fish America
Foundation ($50,000). Other funding sources include
EPA CWA section 319 ($332,000), CWA section
206 (federal share: $4,900,000; nonfederal share:
$2,600,000); Narragansett Bay Watershed Restoration
Bond Fund ($1,065,000) and Rhode Island Coastai
Resources Management Council Habitat Restoration
Trust Fund ($100,000).
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Office of Water
Washington, DC
EPA 841-F-18-Q01WW
December 2018
For additional information contact:
Betsy Dake
Rhode Island Department of Environmental
Management
401-222-4700 • Betsy.Dake@dem.ri.gov

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