Rhode Island Feeds

The Lower Shannock Falls Dam in Richmond was removed today as part of a larger river habitat and fish passage restoration project on the Pawcatuck River. The Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association (WPWA) and project partners including Save The Bay, are working to provide fish passage at the three dams on the upper Pawcatuck River: Lower Shannock Falls, Upper Shannock (or Horseshoe Falls) and Kenyon Millpond Dam. The project will allow access to 10 miles of the Pawcatuck River and will open up an additional 1,300 acres of spawning habitat including Wordens Pond. This dam, which no longer served its intended purpose, prevented access to migrating fish such as American shad and river herring. The dam was originally built in the 1820s as part of a textile mill. The mill site next to the river is being redeveloped into a public access and riverfront park by the Town of Richmond.

Project partners include the NOAA Restoration Center, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Trout Unlimited, American Rivers, Town of Richmond, RI CRMC and RI DEM. Partial funding came from the ARRA federal stimulus package. Save The Bay supported this project through our partnership with Restore America's Estuaries and NOAA.

This project is one of several large dam removal projects that Save The Bay is working on in partnership with local river groups and state and federal agencies. These include Paragon Dam on the Woonasquatucket River in Providence, Pawtuxet Falls dam on the Pawtuxet River, State Hospital dam on the Mill River in Taunton and Barstowes Pond dam on the Cotley River in Taunton. See the video below of today's removal!

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.

Did you know that the Massachusetts bottle bill only includes carbonated beverages? Bottled water, sports drinks, iced tea and juices do not fall under this very important legislation and are littering the coastlines and landscapes of Massachusetts - enough to fill Fenway Park every year. The Massachusetts bottle bill generates important revenue for recycling and litter prevention, and needs to be expanded to include more than just soda.

Legislation has been introduced to expand the bottle bill for many years and the campaign has gained new traction this year with more need to close budget shortfalls. With three months left in the legislative session, the bill needs a hearing. You can read the latest and contact your legislative leaders at the Bottle Bill Coalition's website.

If you live in Rhode Island, let your Assembly members know that we need a bottle bill here as well, one that includes all types of beverage containers.

This resolution introduced by the Senator from Alaska was an attempt to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act. After six hours of party-line arguments on the Senate floor, the measure was defeated. All 41 Republicans and six Democrats voted in favor of this resolution, showing huge levels of global warming denial and a refusal to look at real science. While this was still a victory for the EPA, it shows how hard the fight will be to pass any legislation that makes a dent in our consumption of fossil fuels. Senators Reed and Whitehouse delivered excellent speeches as did Senator Kerry. Our newly elected Massachusetts Senator, Mr. Scott Brown unfortunately voted in favor of the resolution. See the roll call here.

It seems as if Congress is continually at a stand still, especially on the Senate side. I have found OpenCongress.org to be the best way to keep up with what is happening, and I find the blog very informative. Today's blog post provides a good catch-up on what is happening with energy legislation. Look out for a vote on the Murkowski resolution on Thursday blocking the EPA from regulating carbon.