Grant will fund salt pond restorations in Charlestown, Westerly

CHARLESTOWN — Work is expected to begin in the fall of 2015 on a project that will use dredged material to restore 30 acres of degraded habitat on the Ninigret salt pond. Planning will also begin on two similar restoration projects at Quonochontaug and Winnapaug ponds.

Funding for the three projects, $3.25 million from the U.S. Department of the Interior, was awarded to the state Coastal Resources Management Council on June 16 as part of the federal government’s Hurricane Sandy Coastal Resiliency Competitive Grant Program.

U.S. Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, was instrumental in securing the funding.

“This federal funding will help protect our communities and restore important habitat,” Reed said in a written statement. “I commend CRMC and their partners for spearheading this project, which will expand on existing work to assess marsh conditions and restore habitat statewide while improving the ecological, economic, and social value of natural resources for the area.”

CRMC coastal policy analyst Caitlin Chaffee said the council was delighted that the Rhode Island projects were among the 54 nationwide that had been awarded funding.

“Senator Reed was hugely supportive,” she said. “It’s amazing what he has secured for Rhode Island.”

The grant application, which was submitted last January, was a collaborative effort involving the towns of Westerly and Charlestown, the Salt Ponds Coalition, the CRMC, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management and Save the Bay.

“Putting the proposal together was a great partnership with the town of Westerly and the town of Charlestown,” Chaffee said.

In the Ninigret restoration project, dredged sediment will be used to raise sections of the salt marsh that are sinking in a process known as subsidence. In addition to being healthier, the elevated marsh will be better able to withstand storm surge and will have the capacity to hold more water from coastal flooding.

“It’s putting that material in areas where vegetation is dying and pond water is expanding,” Chaffee said. “It’s not bringing this above wetland level. This is an area that will still be inundated on a regular basis. It will be wetland, not upland.”

Charlestown Town Council President Thomas Gentz said he was pleased that Ninigret would be the first pond to be restored.

“The town is absolutely thrilled that we can restore Ninigret Pond,” he said. “We’re excited to be a leader and an example to other communities to learn from what we’ve done.”

The engineering and design of the Ninigret Pond project will cost $260,000, and dredging and construction will cost $2.5 million. Approximately $30,000 has also been budgeted for replanting the marsh, and $40,000 will be used to monitor the results after the work is completed.

Westerly has already received $700,000 in federal funding for a second dredging project on Winnapaug Pond. That project, also managed by the CRMC, will involve the removal of 60,000 cubic yards of sediment, which will be used to replenish town beaches.

The newly-awarded Quonnie and Winnapaug pond projects will receive $300,000 for technical studies, environmental assessments and permitting. Amy Grzybowski, Westerly grants administrator, said the funds would allow the town to complete the planning and permitting so work could begin in late 2015.

“Westerly is extremely excited by this funding,” she said. “It will allow us to do the planning for Winnapaug and Quonnie ponds for habitat restoration. This gives us an awesome opportunity to be ready.”

CRMC Public Information Coordinator Laura Dwyer said the projects are an important opportunity for Rhode Island, which does not have as many salt marshes as other coastal states.

“This funding is huge for the state of Rhode Island and the CRMC,” she said.

“This is a new and exciting method of restoring marshes. What we do have is precious, and we want to protect what we can.”