Patrick Administration Announces $167,000 in Federal Grants to Eight Buzzards Bay Watershed Communities

BOSTON – Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Ian Bowles today announced $167,000 in federal grants to help eight South Coast communities protect and restore Buzzards Bay.

Administered by the EEA Office of Coastal Zone Management’s (CZM) Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, the grants help South Coast and Cape Cod communities to protect and restore water quality and natural resources in Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed. The towns will use these grants to protect and restore wetlands habitat and open space, design treatment solutions for stormwater discharges, and restore herring runs.

“I’m delighted that these federal funds have been disbursed to communities along the Commonwealth’s South Coast,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “These projects will help maintain the health and vitality of the coastal resources that we treasure.”

“This federal support will continue to help the Buzzards Bay watershed communities protect, clean and restore their coasts,” Secretary Bowles said. “I applaud these towns for their commitment to protecting the Commonwealth’s precious coastal resources.”

The federal grants, which last year totaled $130,000 for six southeastern Massachusetts communities are funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program is one of 28 estuary programs in the United States. In 1985 Congress designated Buzzards Bay an Estuary of National Significance. The effort was lead by the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, who joined with other legislators to create four new estuary programs around the country to emulate the Chesapeake Bay Program, which Congress had created in 1983. The programs were administered by the EPA and founded on the principal that good science could lead to good management. The program pushed scientists and managers to meet with the public, industry, local officials, and other stakeholders in the community, to develop rational and publicly supported Action Plans to protect and restore national estuaries.

“This area plays an important role in the Buzzards Bay ecosystem, and it is critical that the fishway into the salt marsh be restored,” said Senate President Therese Murray. “This grant will allow the restoration of this important area to move forward.”

“I am pleased that several communities within my district will receive federal funds through the National Estuary Program to further conservation efforts within Buzzards Bay. The local commitment to preserving the natural resources of this area is commendable and I will continue to support these programs that assist in this effort.”

This year’s awards to Buzzards Bay watershed communities are:

Town of Rochester - $20,000 to improve a herring run at Leonards Pond, which provides important spawning habitat for fish traveling up the Sippican River. The town has been working with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Alewives Anonymous, The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, and a private landowner to replace the existing poorly functioning fishway to improve the passage of fish into the pond. The town will hire an engineer to produce detailed site plans and construction specifications, and eventually hire a contractor to remove and replace the fishway.

Town of Rochester - $5,000 to appraise land parcels totaling 150 acres along Wolf Island Road in the Mattapoisett River Valley Groundwater Protection District, which provides drinking water to the towns of Rochester, Marion, Mattapoisett and Fairhaven. The town is seeking to purchase the properties' to protect drinking water supplies and wildlife habitat.

Town of Fairhaven - $35,000 to acquire open space at Nasketucket Woods. In partnership with the Coalition for Buzzards Bay, the town of Fairhaven has sought funding to assist with the acquisition and legal costs associated with protecting an eight-acre parcel of land containing important wetlands and wildlife habitat.

Town of Westport - $20,000 to develop designs to treat stormwater from Old County Road discharging to the head of the Westport River collected by more than 30 catch basins along the road discharges directly to the head of East Branch of the Westport River. The design will focus on a large discharge that has contributed to shellfish closures in the area. Once the road designs are complete, the town will seek grant funds to construct the stormwater treatment systems.

Town of Marion - $7,500 to complete the required permits for the Grassi Bog wetland restoration project, which will restore an abandoned cranberry bog into a natural wetland system. The project includes rerouting a small stream from an existing bypass channel to a new channel that will flow through the bog, constructing an emergency spillway to protect the dyke that creates the existing eight-acre pond, creating new spotted turtle habitat, eliminating fish passage impediments, and removing of old roads. Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded the town a $10,000 grant for the project, which was designed in consultation with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. The grant will be used to prepare necessary environmental permits for the project.

Town of Marion - $3,600 for land surveys and deed searches as part of an effort to permanently protect 14 acres of town-owned land near Holmes Woods near Sippican Harbor. The properties are currently unprotected, and require survey plans and deed descriptions before they can be registered at the county deeds office and protected as open space under Article 97 of the Massachusetts Constitution.

Town of Mattapoisett - $9,900 to develop engineering plans to restore a seven-acre salt marsh at Pico Beach. The town-owned salt marsh is tidally restricted because of undersize culverts under a road and footpaths. The restriction of tidal flow is reducing salinity of the marsh, killing native plants and allowing non-native invasive species like the Common Reed (known also by its scientific name, Phragmites) to invade. The changes have reduced or eliminated wildlife dependent on native salt marsh vegetation.

Town of Bourne - $15,000 to evaluate and develop plans to improve the migration of herring and restore salt marsh vegetation in the Bourne Fishway, also known as Dykes Creek. Two culverts restrict salt water tidal flow. The town will hire an engineer to complete a survey of the existing fishway and surrounding salt marsh, and to develop plans to restore the site.

Town of Wareham - $35,000 to acquire a conservation restriction on 2.5 acres of land bordering Marks Cove in partnership with the Wareham Land Trust. The state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program (NHESP) has identified this property as priority habitat for rare species. Protection of this parcel will complete a contiguous corridor of 115 acres of land in this sensitive area.

Town of Dartmouth - $16,000 to pay for the appraisal, survey, and legal work to finalize the donation of a 30-acre conservation restriction to the town. The town will work with the Coalition for Buzzards Bay to preserve the property, which abuts existing protected town-owned lands along Dyke Creek in Apponagansett Bay. The land is comprised of salt marsh and upland, and provides habitat for species such as roseate and common terns. Protection of this property will help maintain the existing natural habitat buffer along the creek to protect water quality and habitat.

The Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) is the agency within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs charged with protecting Massachusetts’ approximately 1,500-mile coast. Through educational and regulatory programs, CZM seeks to balance human uses of the coastal zone with the need to protect fragile marine resources. The agency’s work includes helping coastal communities anticipate and plan for sea level rise and other effects of climate change, working with cities and towns and the federal government to develop boat sewage no-discharge areas, and partnering with communities and other organizations to restore coastal and aquatic habitats.