Thursday, April 23, 2009

Restoration is under way at Stillhouse Cove in Cranston

Save The Bay is teaming up with the City of Cranston, the Edgewood Waterfront Preservation Association and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to restore a salt marsh in Stillhouse Cove off Narragansett Boulevard in Cranston.

The salt marsh has been impacted by runoff from surrounding development and historic filling. This has resulted in sediment accumulation on the marsh surface and growth of Phragmites australis.

In 2004, fill was removed from
the marsh and stormwater management was improved through the use of catchbasins that capture sediment. This phase of the salt marsh restoration included restoring 1.5 acres of valuable marsh habitat by reducing the height of the marsh through removal of approximately 1400 cubic yards of material and excavating new creeks. Because some of the matrial was deposited in the upper marsh, it is now being colonized by Phragmites australis and holds fresh water where mosquitoes can grow.

The on
going second phase of restoration includes removing material from the disposal area, excavating a new creek and seeding the edge of the marsh with warm season grasses.

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