Indicators

Core Indicator	Metrics	Status	Trends
Living Resources
Estuarine Fish	Trawl surveys document catch data; some species missed due to equipment and location of surveys	Overall abundance of fish and shellfish is generally stable since 1959.	Decrease in demersal (bottom-dwelling) species coupled with increases in pelagic (mid-water) fish and squid; suggest impacts of global warming trends.
Invasive Species	Rapid assessment surveys of marine invasive species	Marine freshwater invasive species have been documented.	Trends data not available due to limited spatial and temporal survey work. Volunteer monitoring program now underway (floating dock surveys).
Wetlands	Acreage determined from aerial photography	MA freshwater wetlands total acres 89,905 in 2001; RI freshwater wetlands total acres 79,191 in 1988; Coastal wetlands on Narra. Bay 3,163 acres in 1996.	MA freshwater wetlands approx. 400 acres lost 1991-2001; RI coastal wetlands 215 acres lost 1950s-1990s.
Seagrass Beds	Aerial photography and interpretation; limited field work; historical sources (maps and interviews)	1996 and 2006 surveys; most recent survey shows about 400 acres of eelgrass, annual extent variable due to a number of factors.	Trend data limited to results of 2 surveys; possible signs of improvement.
Watershed Lands
Land Cover/ Land Use Change	Land cover; land uses	NBR land use: 53% undeveloped; 3% high-intensity; 6% medium-intensity; 11% low-intensity developed.	Total developed land in RI increased 47% between 1970 and 1995.
Impervious Surfaces	Impervious surfaces	14% of NBR covered by impervious surfaces; RI area estimated at 10%	Increasing as land development and redevelopment occurs.
Ecosystem Management
Water Quality Improvement Actions	Waste-water treatment upgrades; improvements to combined sewer overflow systems; use of marine pumpouts	Much of Narra. Bay and tributaties does not meet Clean Water Act "fishable, swimable" goals. MA and RI working to reduce nutrients and bacteria through legistlation, permitting and construction.	Estimated 35% reduction in nitrogen from RI Bay WWTFs since 2004; Providence and Fall River CSO treatment coming onlline - bacterial reductions expected; since 2000, pumpout volume has more than doubled.
Environmental Expenditures	Annual state and federal funding; staffing levels	Environmental expenditures by state: $96 million (RI); $239 Million (MA)	RI expenditures increasing; MA expenditures declined since 2007.
Environmental Reporting	Availability of monitoring data and ecological assessments	RI and Mass operate on seperate schedules for monitoring watersheds, even shared ones; both states post some data, but data are not necessarily the same, nor are all data available or shared online.	Reports on data not consistently available, although Mass publishes an annual environmental progress report.