New Culvert Installed at Labor in Vain Salt Marsh

Save The Bay first identified the Labor in Vain salt marsh system in Somerset, MA in 1996 as part of a bay-wide assessment of potential salt marsh projects. The site was also included in the Massachusetts Tidal Restriction Atlas and became a project of mine at the Massachusetts Riverways Program in 2004. Many years later, the upper marsh is coming back to life. A new culvert was installed last week that will allow tidal flushing into a section of marsh that was long inundated with fresh water and frozen in the winter to allow ice skating. A small pipe culvert and tide gate allowed very limited influx of salt water.

Skating weather had been harder and harder to come by in recent years, and the town eventually agreed to give up that use and restore full tidal flushing to this marsh which was gradually filling in with Phragmites. When I visited this new culvert yesterday, the channel was absolutely full of tiny young of the year mummichogs (small fish that are born and live their young lives in salt marshes). We also saw fresh animal tracks in the marsh. It was amazing to see this abundance of life in the newly formed tidal creek. Many project partners put in years of work on this project including the Town of Somerset and the Massachusetts Wetland Restoration Program. More work will hopefully be done on the downstream tidal restrictions in future years.

Save The Bay Celebrates at Gooseneck Cove

On September 14th, Save The Bay and project partners celebrated the completion of the Gooseneck Cove restoration project in Newport. Tidal flow to this 64 acre salt marsh was restored through the replacement of culverts under Ocean Avenue and Hazard Road, and the removal of an old dam in the center of the marsh. Nearly 14 acres of the marsh had been lost due to constant inundation by both fresh and brackish water. Now, large areas of former marsh are growing again and wildlife is flourishing. Senator Jack Reed and RI Senate President Teresa Paiva Weed thanked the project partners and used the project of an excelent example of the success of state and federal funding partnerhips. Read more about the project on our Gooseneck Cove web page

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 ongoing 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.