Somerset Marsh Restoration Underway
On July 22nd, workers installed sections of a box culvert at Labor
In Vain Brook, a tributary of the Taunton River in Somerset, Mass.
The work is part of a project to restore an 11-acre salt marsh,
led by Mass. Division of Ecological Restoration with support from
the Narragansett Bay Estuary Program and other partners. The
Association of National Estuary Programs, of which NBEP is a member,
provided partial funding for the project through its partnership with the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The box culvert will replace a pipe running beneath an old farm
road which separates the marsh from tidal waters. The pipe
restricted salt water flow into the marsh, leading to loss and deterioration
of coastal habitat. For many years, the Town of Somerset managed
the marsh as a public skating area, using a gate at the pipe to
flood the marsh with fresh water in the winter and exacerbating
the problem.
The culvert seen here has been backfilled with soil; in early July,
the construction crew will dig out the old roadbed at each end of
the culvert, allowing the tide to re-enter the marsh and allowing
fish and invertebrates to use, once again, this important coastal
habitat. Following completion of construction, DER and its
partners will monitor the marsh’s ecological recovery for
several years by tracking changes to vegetation, fish and invertebrates.
Narragansett Bay Journal
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Dissolved Oxygen Monitoring
The 11th year of water quality monitoring is about to begin. NBEP, Brown University,
Save the Bay and other organizations will continue to work together to monitor dissolved oxygen
in Narragansett Bay. To view the maps and data generated from the
surveys, visit Brown
University's Insomniacs web page.
Blogging for the Bay
Keep informed of the work our science team is doing. Log onto NBEP's
new science
blog to read about our latests surveys, interesting findings,
images, videos and more.
Currents of Change
Currents of Change, NBEP's report on Narragansett Bay and
its watershed ecosystem, is now available! Visit our Currents
of Change page where you can view individual indicators and download the report summary, technical
report and supporting documents. More than 75 scientists, resource
managers and stakeholders from Rhode Island and Massachusetts collaborated
to develop Currents of Change, the most comprehensive effort
to date to assess and report on environmental status and trends
of the bi-state Narragansett Bay Region. Currents of Change is the first step toward NBEP's revision of the Narragansett Bay
Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan (CCMP). The CCMP is a
blueprint for the future which builds upon existing plans and initiatives,
developing stakeholder-based goals and priorities for protecting
and restoring the Bay and its watershed.
Click here to go to the Currents
of Change page. |
