CZ-Mail Year in Review - 2022

Published January 2023

Welcome to the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) year-in-review edition of CZ-Mail, which highlights CZM accomplishments for 2022, provides news and information about our programs and regions, and discusses some notable achievements of our partners. CZM would like to thank all of the people and organizations that contribute their time, effort, expertise, and passion to working on issues important to the Massachusetts coast. It has been a pleasure to work with you over the past year, and we look forward to a positive and productive 2023.

The next regular edition of CZ-Mail will be in February. Additional information about CZM's programs, publications, and other coastal topics can be found on the CZM website, and periodic CZM updates are posted on Twitter. To subscribe to CZ-Mail, send a blank email (please be sure that the email is completely blank, with no signature line) to [e-mail]. Also, please feel free to share CZ-Mail with colleagues and friends—and if you have any suggestions for future editions, would like your name added to the mailing list, or would like your name removed, please email your request to [e-mail].

All links on this web page were current and working on the date of publication.

Overview of 2022 at CZM

CZM had a busy and productive 2022, providing extensive financial and technical support to coastal communities and building state capacity for ocean and coastal management, with a focus on climate change, water quality, and ocean planning and offshore wind development. In January, CZM awarded $180,627 in new Coastal Pollutant Remediation (CPR) Grants for three on-the-ground, municipal stormwater projects that will reduce coastal water pollution and improve the health of coastal resources. In total, seven CPR projects were completed in 2022 with $500,000 in CPR grant funding and $189,290 in match. Later in January, the Massachusetts Coastal Storm Damage Assessment Team (Storm Team) led by CZM recorded damages along the coast from a nor’easter, which was later declared a major disaster with costs expected to exceed $13 million. In April, CZM released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 Request for Responses (RFR) for both the Coastal Resilience and CZM’s new Coastal Habitat and Water Quality grant programs, providing webinars and online content to support potential grant applicants. Also in April, CZM celebrated Earth Week at Nauset Beach in Orleans, highlighting more than $1 million in Coastal Resilience grant funding to support a phased retreat of infrastructure from the beach. In May, CZM and the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership (MassBays) began field work to study and assess eelgrass mapping methods with funding through a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Project of Special Merit, and field work continued through the summer. CZM began signing up local coordinators for the 2022 COASTSWEEP statewide beach cleanup in June. Throughout the fall, more than 3,300 COASTSWEEP volunteers scoured 130 miles of coastline and collected over 6 tons of trash. Also in June, the Salt Marsh Working Group, led by CZM, released Gaining Ground: Defining Priority Research for Resilient Salt Marshes, which outlines research priorities for salt marshes in a changing climate. Lastly in June, the Duxbury Beach Dune Restoration project received the Best Restored Beach Award from the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA). The project was made possible with CZM’s technical assistance and a $500,000 Coastal Resilience grant. In July, CZM co-hosted the National Working Waterfront Network Conference in Boston. CZM staff participated as speakers and in panel discussions on how New England’s working waterfronts are adapting to change, leveraging partnerships and funding to create thriving working waterfronts for traditional marine industries and the emerging offshore wind industry in Massachusetts, and coastal resilience issues for working waterfronts. In August, CZM launched the Stormwater Solutions for Homeowners website with fact sheets for property owners on the best practices for reducing and treating stormwater runoff. CZM’s Project Review Coordinator, Bob Boeri received the Susan Snow-Cotter Leadership Award in August from the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment for his dedication to the coastal profession. CZM also welcomed Lexie Neffinger as our 10^th Coastal Management Fellow from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Lexie will support CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Team and Coastal Resilience Grant Program with environmental justice community engagement on shoreline restoration opportunities for increased coastal resilience and other benefits. In September, CZM announced nearly $2.1 million in Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants to support eight projects that address polluted stormwater runoff to further protect coastal water quality and habitat, as well as to develop comprehensive coastal habitat restoration plans. These grants were matched by more than $800,000 from municipal sources, demonstrating a strong local commitment to coastal water quality and habitat. CZM announced $12.6 million in funding in September for 27 new Coastal Resilience Grant projects to reduce risks and impacts associated with coastal storms, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise. These grants were announced during a Climate Week event in Plymouth to highlight that community’s $2 million Coastal Resilience grant award (the largest award to date) to construct a nourishment project on Long Beach to help protect the barrier beach system and the mainland from storms and rising sea levels. Seventeen Coastal Resilience Grant projects wrapped up this year, and six additional projects are on a two-year timeline and will be completed in 2023. In 2022, local partners provided approximately $1.5 million in match for coastal resilience efforts through this program. CZM continued to support the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program in 2022, which in September awarded $32 million in new funding to communities statewide to identify hazards and develop and implement strategies to improve resilience. Eighteen of these grant awards with a total value of more than $7.1 million are advancing coastal resilience in 23 coastal communities this year. In October, CZM released the latest version of the Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System (MORIS), CZM’s official data portal and mapping tool. With this MORIS upgrade, users can directly access data from online web services, such as Flood Insurance Rate Map (FIRM) data directly from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). In late October, CZM co-hosted the Martha’s Vineyard Conference in Vineyard Haven, with presentations on the impacts of sea level rise and storms on island flooding, erosion impacts and projections, salt marsh restoration, and resilience planning. In November, CZM helped organize the annual Great Marsh Symposium with the theme, The Future of Roads through the Great Marsh: Balancing Access with Natural Resource Protection. The event attracted more the 150 participants from the Great Marsh area and surrounding communities. EEA released the draft Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment for public comment in November. The assessment, which was developed with support by CZM, evaluates risks of climate change to the Commonwealth and will serve as a core component of the 2023 update to the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan. Also in November, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program awarded $195,000 in funding for five projects to protect drinking water supplies, preserve important habitat, and address pollution from stormwater runoff in the Buzzards Bay watershed. Ongoing year-long work at CZM included planning efforts to bring clean, renewable offshore wind energy to the region’s residents, with CZM completing environmental reviews of several projects that will affect Massachusetts waters and shoreline. CZM also worked on harbor planning activities with several coastal communities this year, including work on Municipal Harbor Plans (MHPs) and Designated Port Area (DPA) Master Plans in Chelsea, Salem, and Gloucester; DPA Boundary Reviews in Lynn, East Boston, and Chelsea Creek; and MHPs in Edgartown, Nantucket, and Mashpee. Lastly, to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the legislation that launched the Massachusetts coastal program, CZM developed 50 Ways to Protect the Massachusetts Coast - CZMA Anniversary Edition. Additional highlights of CZM’s 2022 efforts are summarized below.

CZM Program Accomplishments

CZM’s mission is to balance the impact of human activities with the protection of coastal and marine resources through planning, public involvement, education, research, and sound resource management. To achieve these goals, as well as to meet the needs of municipal officials, property owners, educators, and others in the coastal community, CZM maintains a range of programs. The 2022 accomplishments for each CZM program area are listed below.

StormSmart Coasts - Managing Erosion and Flooding

Coastal Resilience Grant Awards - In September, CZM awarded $12.6 million in funding for 27 local projects through the Coastal Resilience Grant Program to reduce risks associated with coastal storms, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise—announcing the new projects at a Climate Week event in Plymouth that highlighted beach nourishment projects at Plymouth Long Beach and the Duxbury Beach Reservation (DBR). For details, see the EEA Press Release. The Duxbury project, a dune restoration supported by CZM, was awarded the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association’s (ASBPA) 2022 Best Restored Beach (see the ASBPA Press Release). For press coverage on the Coastal Resilience grant awards, see: Baker-Polito Administration funds Coastal Community Resilience at WWLP.com on September 20; Chilmark receives dune restoration grant in the Vineyard Gazette on September 20; Money for sand and stones: DBR gets pair of state grants in the Duxbury Clipper on September 21; State awards towns $1 million in Coastal Resilience Grants in the Cape Cod Chronicle on September 21; ‘Huge win’: South Shore communities to get millions for coastal infrastructure projects in the Patriot Ledger on September 23; Some coastal MA communities were given grants to re-nourish beaches, here’s what to know in Wicked Local Old Colony Memorial on September 23; and House of 7 Gables gets state grant for coastal resilience plan in the Salem News on September 24.

The FY 2023 grant awards are listed below:

• Barnstable - $128,127 to design and initiate permitting for nature-based measures and a reconfiguration of the Sandy Neck Beach Facility to enhance storm damage protection to infrastructure, wetlands, and endangered species habitat areas.
• Boston - $300,000 to advance previous climate vulnerability assessments to further analyze site conditions to address a critical flood entry point in Dorchester. The project will develop schematic designs to protect the waterfront and community from future sea level rise and coastal storms.
• Brewster, Dennis, and Orleans - $288,414 to develop a comprehensive, science-based framework for managing the 14.5-mile shoreline between Rock Harbor in Orleans and Bass Hole in Dennis.
• Chatham - $86,732 to mitigate significant shoaling within the Stage Harbor entrance channel and erosion of Crescent Beach. The Town of Chatham will undertake environmental permitting for temporary structures that redirect tidal currents combined with beach nourishment.
• Chatham, on behalf of the Pleasant Bay Alliance - $82,690 to complete permitting and prepare construction documents for a living shoreline project that will enhance fringing salt marsh and provide erosion protection at the Jackknife Beach recreational area.
• Chilmark - $205,937 to construct a 200-foot dune restoration project along Menemsha Public Beach. The project will reduce sand overwashing the parking lot and into Menemsha Harbor and provide increased storm damage protection and flood control for landward areas.
• Cohasset - $161,925 to assess the vulnerability of public assets within the Cohasset Cove and James Brook Watershed, including the Wastewater Treatment Plant and Influent Pump Station located in Jacob’s Meadow, to current and future flooding conditions. The project will develop resiliency strategies to mitigate flooding risks to these critical local and regional resources.
• Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. - $1,800,000 to construct a 2,750-foot beach and dune nourishment project in front of the Duxbury Pavilion to provide increased storm damage protection and flood control to Duxbury Bay.
• Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc., Braintree, Chilmark, Falmouth, Winthrop, and the Stone Living Lab - $253,225 to conduct comprehensive monitoring of recently constructed cobble berms to increase understanding of the design and performance of these nature-based approaches to shoreline management.
• Gosnold - $573,398 to install a new above-ground fuel storage system that incorporates sea level rise considerations to replace recently removed underground tanks. Providing a resilient source of fuel for vessels, vehicles, and home heating is critical to residents and visitors on the island.
• House of Seven Gables Settlement Association - $509,919 to prepare an adaptation plan that identifies short-, medium-, and long-term actions to improve the resilience of its campus and buildings to anticipated changes in groundwater elevation, precipitation, storm intensity, and sea level rise.
• Ipswich - $113,160 to continue permitting efforts for the Argilla Road Adaptation project, which aims to elevate Argilla Road and implement nature-based designs to provide a storm-resilient transition to adjacent wetlands and restore upland wetlands to full function through tidal exchange.
• Manchester-by-the-Sea - $175,132 to develop a conceptual action plan to reduce coastal flood risks in the downtown inner harbor waterfront. The project will develop alternatives for protecting critical assets including the Town Hall, wastewater treatment plant, and downtown commercial district.
• Marblehead - $523,220 to continue public outreach, advance design plans, and begin permitting for infrastructure retrofits to reduce flooding impacts along the shoreline encompassing the Municipal Light Department and adjacent properties.
• Marshfield and Duxbury - $70,598 to continue permitting efforts to implement beach and dune nourishment projects at vulnerable coastal beaches along the east-facing shorelines of the Towns of Marshfield and Duxbury. The Towns will also continue public outreach to update the communities on the project and its public benefits.
• Mass Audubon - $96,824 to examine the feasibility of shoreline restoration and infrastructure adaptations to the Eastern Point Wildlife Sanctuary and the terminal portion of Eastern Point Boulevard in Gloucester.
• Mattapoisett - $585,000 to finalize design plans, permit, and construct improvements to Old Slough Road, which will be used as an emergency route for vehicles traveling from the Point Connett and Angelica Point neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are currently accessed by Angelica Avenue, a single, low-lying road that is threatened by flooding from coastal storms and sea level rise.
• Nahant - $96,900 to evaluate alternative strategies for shore and coastal bank protection at Forty Steps Beach. The project will develop a conceptual design for the preferred alternative and initiate permitting discussions with agencies.
• New Bedford - $150,830 to complete environmental permitting and prepare final design plans and contract documents for the future construction of the West Rodney French Boulevard beach nourishment project. The proposed nourishment will help provide erosion protection to critical infrastructure located in the roadway.
• Orleans - $599,516 to address the vulnerability of existing marine fuel facilities by removing underground fuel tanks located in a vulnerable area and replacing them with two new above-ground units in a safer and more landward location.
• Plymouth - $2,000,000 to nourish a 2,000-foot section of Long Beach with sand, gravel, and cobble to address impacts of increasingly severe storms that threaten properties and infrastructure on the barrier spit and along the Plymouth Harbor.
• Provincetown - $80,355 to develop final design plans, construction specifications, and a monitoring and maintenance plan for a dune enhancement project along a 250-foot section of Ryder Street Beach to withstand storm events and improve coastal storm damage protection and flood control to the downtown area.
• Salem - $480,485 to evaluate, permit, and implement adaptation measures to mitigate near-term coastal flooding risks while also working to advance design plans and cost estimates for long-term resiliency improvements to the seawall and revetment at Palmer Cove Park. The project will also continue to engage the community on climate change and disaster preparedness.
• Scituate - $1,999,990 to prepare final design plans and contract documents and construct a portion of the North Scituate Beach nourishment project to mitigate the impact of coastal storms and sea level rise over the next 20 to 30 years. The project will include public meetings to communicate project purpose, expectations, and updates.
• Wareham - $199,918 to develop a conceptual plan for implementable adaptation measures that can reduce flood risk to the Main Street commercial district. The project will increase public understanding of the vulnerability of the area and explore nature-based solutions.
• Wellfleet - $546,180 to continue a multi-phase project to pursue a regional approach to shoreline management for Eastern Cape Cod Bay in partnership with the Towns of Eastham, Provincetown, and Truro. The project will develop a regional sand management program and public data portal and finalize conceptual design strategies for four low-lying roads.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - $499,981 to continue to work in partnership with the Town of Falmouth, Marine Biological Laboratory, and Northeast Fisheries Science Center to design and construct floodproofing measures in near-term critical flood entry points, evaluate the feasibility of a dune restoration project on Stoney Beach, and continue public outreach to build support for infrastructure adaptations.

Coastal Resilience Project Updates - Seventeen projects listed below wrapped up in 2022 and six will be completed in 2023 with CZM technical support and Coastal Resilience Grant funding. Please see the CZM Grant Viewer for award amounts and links to additional information.

2020-2022 Projects

• Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. - Filed permit applications for a series of nature-based measures that will provide flood and erosion control and improve the resilience of the barrier beach system.
• Marshfield and Duxbury - Filed permit applications for beach and dune nourishment projects at several vulnerable coastal beaches along east-facing shorelines.
• Oak Bluffs - Mapped low-lying areas that serve as pathways for coastal floodwaters and coordinated with the National Weather Service’s Coastal Flood Threat and Inundation Mapping website, which provides real-time total water level forecasting. The project also developed a webpage to host the publicly available storm tide data (stormtides.org).
• Provincetown - Continued working with the Towns of Truro, Wellfleet, and Eastham toward a regional approach to shoreline management for Eastern Cape Cod Bay. This phase of the project assessed the potential for salt marsh migration and conducted a low-lying roadway inventory in each Town.

2021-2022 Projects

• Chatham - Evaluated the use of current redirection structures combined with beach nourishment along the Stage Harbor barrier beach and inlet system and designed the preferred alternative that will mitigate erosion and shoaling over the next 10-20 years.
• Chatham, on behalf of the Pleasant Bay Alliance - Completed a Notice of Intent and Environmental Notification Form for a fringing salt marsh enhancement project to protect the popular Jackknife Beach recreational area.
• Edgartown - Relocated the South Beach bathhouse and existing over-sand-vehicle trail landward and restored the primary dune on South Beach with compatible dredge material and native plantings.
• Falmouth - Assessed a range of management alternatives for providing protection for the shoreline along the western side of the Eel River entrance channel over the next 30-50 years.
• Gosnold - Evaluated, designed, and permitted a preferred alternative for an above-ground fuel storage facility on Cuttyhunk Island to replace the recently removed underground tanks.
• Hingham - Analyzed site conditions and developed design options for the replacement of the deteriorating and vulnerable Broad Cove Pump Station sewer force main, as well as protective measures for the station.
• Ipswich - Continued permitting activities for the Argilla Road adaptation project, which aims to elevate Argilla Road and build resilience using nature-based designs to provide a storm-resilient transition to the adjacent wetlands.
• Marblehead - Conducted a detailed vulnerability assessment of the Municipal Light Department, Hammond Park, and adjoining public infrastructure, and developed alternatives to mitigate flooding and sea level rise impacts.
• Mattapoisett - Completed engineering design and survey work to reopen Old Slough Road as an emergency access route for vehicles traveling to and from the Point Connett and Angelica Point neighborhoods.
• Mattapoisett - Completed final design and permitting necessary to implement the Eel Pond sewer force main replacement project along the barrier beach and under the West Channel.
• Salem - Conducted a detailed climate vulnerability assessment of the Palmer Cove area of the Point neighborhood, assessed adaptation alternatives, and conducted an intensive multi-lingual outreach and engagement campaign in the Point neighborhood.
• Wareham - Constructed an elevated platform that accommodates coastal storm and sea level rise projections to protect an emergency generator at the Salt Works Road pump station.
• Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - Identified flood pathways and vulnerabilities to public and nonprofit institutions, local businesses, natural resources, and residents in the village. The project also conducted proactive engagement with the community, schools, businesses, and visitors to build support for the implementation of long-term strategies.

2021-2023 Projects

• Braintree - Constructed a nature-based shoreline restoration project to mitigate erosion and flooding at Watson Park and will conduct monitoring over the next year.
• Dartmouth - Will continue to assess alternatives and develop resilient nature-based and structural design strategies for addressing the failing seawall around the perimeter of Apponagansett Park and Arthur Dias Town Landing, which regularly experience flooding during spring tides and coastal storms.
• Hull - Will continue permitting activities and stakeholder engagement for the restoration of the primary frontal dune at two remaining large openings in the North Nantasket Beach primary dune system.
• Marion - Conducted preliminary design work of additional flood protection measures at the Front Street Pump Station, evaluated the sewer force main pipe that carries flow from the pump station to the Marion Water Pollution Control Facility, and designed and will complete the construction of a bypass connection in the event of a pump station failure.
• Orleans - Constructed a parking lot, septic system leaching field, and other associated infrastructure improvements at Nauset Beach landward of the existing parking lot and flood zone. The project team is finalizing the record drawings and certifications.
• Tisbury - Will continue to increase public involvement and outreach, refine conceptual designs, and initiate permitting activities for flood protection for downtown Vineyard Haven, including beach and dune nourishment, roadway elevation, and berm construction.

Regional Coastal Resilience - CZM, other New England state coastal management programs, The Nature Conservancy, and the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC) completed a NOAA-funded effort to advance living shorelines in the region. The team identified regulatory challenges and opportunities and developed guidance on site characterization and monitoring of projects. For more information, see the NROC Living Shorelines Group website.

NOAA Coastal Management Fellow - In August, CZM welcomed Alexis (Lexie) Neffinger as our 10^th Coastal Management Fellow from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Lexie is supporting CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Team and Coastal Resilience Grant Program with environmental justice (EJ) community engagement on shoreline restoration opportunities. In her first few months as a NOAA Fellow, Lexie has engaged with local staff in the South Coastal and North Shore regions to begin to develop meaningful strategies to reach residents and leaders in their EJ neighborhoods. These strategies will encourage community partnership with municipal staff as they develop projects that use nature-based approaches to address risks associated with coastal erosion, flooding, and sea level rise. For more details, see the NOAA Coastal Management Fellowship Project Summaries.

StormSmart Coasts Outreach - Throughout 2022, CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Program provided local officials and other partners information on erosion, flooding, coastal storm impacts, sea level rise, alternatives for mitigating erosion and storm damage, and local adaptation planning through presentations at a variety of events, including:

• Environmental Business Council Webinar - In February, CZM participated in the Environmental Business Council’s 2^nd Annual Regional Agency Update on protecting coastal resources and structures. CZM and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) provided an overview of proposed regulatory updates to support coastal resilience.
• Coastal Resilience Grants Webinar - In March, CZM hosted a webinar on the Coastal Resilience Grant Program for eligible applicants. The webinar covered program goals, eligibility, and evaluation criteria and highlighted a variety of successfully completed grant projects.
• MACC Annual Conference - In March, CZM and MassDEP conducted a climate resiliency initiatives workshop at the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions Virtual Annual Environmental Conference. The workshop highlighted MassDEP’s draft performance standards for Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage.
• Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference - In September, CZM participated in the Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference sponsored by the Salem Preservation Partners and the City of Salem. CZM moderated a session on Increasing Coastal Resiliency Over Time.
• massFM Conference - In October, CZM participated in the 3^rd Annual Conference of the Massachusetts Association for Floodplain Management (massFM). Presentations included case studies of CZM Coastal Resilience Grant projects and EEA Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Action Grant projects. Other state climate initiatives highlighted included the 2022 Massachusetts Climate Assessment, 2023 State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan Update, Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model, Climate Resilience Design Standards Tool, and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act Interim Protocol on Climate Change Adaptation and Resiliency. For more information, see the massFM Fall 2022 newsletter (PDF, 3 MB).
• National Coastal and Estuarine Summit - In December, CZM participated in the 2022 Coastal and Estuarine Summit sponsored by Restore America’s Estuaries. CZM provided a presentation on nature-based cobble nourishment used for shore protection in Winthrop and Duxbury as part of the dedicated session, Balancing Infrastructure Resilience and Natural Coastal Habitat Protection in the Face of Climate Change.

Storm Team - For a nor’easter in January, CZM, along with other state agencies, staffed the State Emergency Operations Center. CZM also activated 20 members of the Massachusetts Coastal Storm Damage Assessment Team (Storm Team) to document impacts of the blizzard along the coast. Storm Team members submitted more than 100 reports including minor flooding and erosion along north- and east-facing shorelines from Salisbury to Nantucket. Reports can be viewed using the StormReporter tool. To help support future management efforts and to increase awareness of coastal flooding and storm damage, please share your photographs of flooding and erosion using the MyCoast: Massachusetts portal.

Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Grants - In 2022, EEA awarded more than $7.1 million for 18 MVP Action grants to 23 coastal communities to address long-term coastal flooding. Also, with the award of a planning grant to Hanover, all 78 coastal communities are now participating in the MVP Program. CZM supports EEA’s administration of the MVP Program and provides technical assistance to community projects. For more information on the grants awarded to coastal communities, see the EEA Press Release.

Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment - In December, EEA released the Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment, which evaluates risks of climate change to the Commonwealth, including public and private assets, natural resources, and human health and safety. The primary objective of the assessment is to identify high urgency climate risks statewide and rank risks based on magnitude of consequence, disproportionality of exposure, and need for effective adaptation. The assessment will serve as a core component of the 2023 update to the State Hazard Mitigation and Climate Adaptation Plan (SHMCAP). CZM supported development of the Massachusetts Climate Change Assessment and continues to support EEA and the Resilient MA Action Team (RMAT) with development of the 2023 SHMCAP. For more information, see the EEA Press Release.

Coastal Water Quality

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grant Awards - In August, EEA Secretary Beth Card announced $2,089,802 in grant funding through CZM’s new Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants at Prince Cove Marina in Barnstable, along with CZM Director Lisa Berry Engler, Barnstable Town Council President Matthew Levesque, awardees, and partners. These grants support efforts to address polluted stormwater runoff to protect coastal water quality and habitat, as well as to develop comprehensive coastal habitat restoration plans. One priority of the grant program is to support implementation of stormwater green infrastructure, which uses approaches that replicate natural processes to filter and treat pollutants in runoff. To highlight local successes, the announcement event highlighted the stormwater green infrastructure installed at Prince Cove by the Town of Barnstable, in partnership with the Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC), Barnstable Land Trust, and Horsley-Witten Group, with partial support from previous CZM funding. The eight funded projects—which are matched by $822,242 from municipal sources, demonstrating a strong local commitment to coastal water quality and habitat—will help keep beaches and shellfish harvesting areas open and advance coastal habitat restoration planning:

• Association to Preserve Cape Cod - $95,015 to design green stormwater infrastructure at three public boat ramp sites across Cape Cod. This project builds on initial assessment and design work to address pollution in stormwater runoff at public boat ramps in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Fish and Game Office of Fishing and Boating Access, Horsley Witten Group, and the Towns of Bourne, Brewster, Dennis, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, and Yarmouth.
• Barnstable - $27,000 to complete final designs to replace an undersized culvert at Ocean Street, which is currently restricting tidal flow and impacting water quality in the Snows Creek estuary. This project builds on data collection and additional water quality improvement efforts by the Town of Barnstable and will improve habitat for fish, birds, and shellfish in the estuary.
• Boston Water and Sewer Commission - $800,000 to construct a new stormwater filtration system to treat stormwater runoff, reducing total suspended solids and nutrients and improving water quality in Canterbury Brook, a tributary to the Charles River. The Commission will monitor the effectiveness of the system in partnership with the City of Boston, Northeastern University, and UMass Amherst.
• Fairhaven - $275,000 to construct two bioretention basins at Jerusalem Road to trap stormwater runoff and filter out nutrients and bacteria that are currently reaching Outer New Bedford Harbor. This green stormwater infrastructure will improve water quality in the Harbor, supporting shellfish harvesting opportunities.
• Kingston - $665,000 to implement stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) along Elm Street and develop a habitat restoration plan for the Jones River estuary. This project builds on previous work funded by CZM to improve coastal habitat and water quality in the Jones River and Kingston Bay.
• Melrose - $100,868 to treat nutrients in stormwater runoff by constructing 15 stormwater street trenches, a type of small-scale green stormwater infrastructure that can be installed in existing catch basins. The project is in partnership with the Mystic River Watershed Association and builds on an effort funded by CZM and others to install trenches region-wide to improve water quality in the Mystic River Watershed.
• Quincy - $44,662 to examine the Rock Island Cove salt marsh complex and plan for restoration. The assessment will include desktop analyses, field evaluations, and outreach to key stakeholders and land managers to identify restoration opportunities and develop a comprehensive restoration plan for the area.
• Yarmouth - $82,257 to complete a comprehensive stormwater assessment to identify and prioritize stormwater treatment sites in partnership with APCC. The assessment will result in conceptual designs for green stormwater infrastructure and complements previous stormwater remediation work funded by CZM in the Town of Yarmouth.

For more information, see the EEA Press Release.

Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grants - In January, EEA announced $185,627 in funding through CZM’s Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grant Program for local efforts to address polluted stormwater runoff to protect coastal water quality and habitat. These projects will reduce pollutants such as nutrients and bacteria in the Massachusetts coastal watershed, protecting water quality at beaches and shellfish harvesting areas and protecting fish habitat. These new grants are in addition to the CPR grant awards announced in August 2021 to Barnstable, Milton, New Bedford, and Provincetown—for a total of $468,267 in CPR-funded projects in FY 2022. The new grants will be matched by $81,392 from municipal sources. The following three CPR grants were awarded:

• Braintree - $55,000 to the Town of Braintree to finalize designs for stormwater treatment at Watson Park using green infrastructure principles that mimic natural processes to capture and treat stormwater runoff before it reaches the Weymouth Fore River. The project will reduce bacterial contamination to improve habitat and water quality in the area.
• Chelsea - $88,585 to the City of Chelsea to conduct a nonpoint source pollutant assessment to identify sources and pathways of bacteria and other pollutants entering Mill Creek, in partnership with the City of Revere, Mystic River Watershed Association, and GreenRoots. The project builds on a multi-year effort to restore habitat and water quality and includes opportunities for community engagement, outreach, and education. The assessment will result in a list of priority sites for installation of stormwater treatment, with two sites chosen to further develop designs for green stormwater infrastructure practices.
• Kingston - $42,042 to the Town of Kingston to construct a rain garden and reduce impervious surface at Gray’s Beach. The rain garden will capture stormwater, trap sediment, and treat nutrient and bacterial contamination through natural processes using plants and soils. The project aims to reduce beach closures at Gray’s Beach and improve water quality and habitat in Kingston Bay for shellfish, eelgrass, and diadromous fish habitat.

For more information, see the EEA Press Release and these news articles: Braintree, Kingston get state grants for water pollution projects in the Patriot Ledger on January 30 and Braintree awarded state grant to protect coastal water quality in the Braintree Patch on January 25.

Completed Water Quality Projects in Coastal Watershed Communities - In 2022, these seven projects were completed with CPR Grant funding from FY 2022.

• Barnstable - The Town of Barnstable, in partnership with APCC, installed three dry swales and an infiltration basin along River Road to treat stormwater runoff into the Marston Mills River and associated wetland resources. The constructed green stormwater infrastructure will treat nutrients and bacteria and improve shellfish habitat and reduce beach closures.
• Braintree - The Town of Braintree developed designs for green stormwater infrastructure at Watson Park to treat stormwater runoff entering the Weymouth Fore River. The designed infrastructure will improve water quality for diadromous fish including rainbow smelt, river herring, and American eel.
• Chelsea - In partnership with the Mystic River Watershed Association and GreenRoots, the City of Chelsea completed a nonpoint source pollution assessment along with outreach and engagement efforts to identify the sources and pathways of bacteria and other pollutants entering Mill Creek. Based on the assessment, two priority sites were chosen to develop designs for green stormwater infrastructure.
• Kingston - The Town of Kingston installed green stormwater infrastructure and removed impervious surface at Gray’s Beach to improve water quality in Kingston Bay. The constructed bioretention swale will improve water quality for shellfish habitat and reduce beach closures.
• Milton - The Town of Milton completed designs for green stormwater infrastructure at the Cunningham Elementary School to treat nutrient and bacteria pollution entering Unquity Brook, an important fish run for rainbow smelt that connects to Gulliver’s Creek in the Neponset River Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC).
• New Bedford - The City of Bedford completed designs for green stormwater infrastructure at the East Beach parking lots to treat stormwater runoff into Outer New Bedford Harbor. When constructed, the project will improve water quality in the Harbor, which is currently impaired for recreation and fish and shellfish consumption and subject to beach closures at East Beach.
• Provincetown - The Town of Provincetown completed final designs for an infiltration system to treat stormwater runoff from Howland Street into Provincetown Harbor. The green stormwater infrastructure, which includes porous pavement, will treat bacteria and improve water quality for shellfish habitat and reduce beach closures.

MWRA Monitoring - CZM participated in an ad hoc committee to support the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) Outfall Monitoring Science Advisory Panel to address contaminants of emerging concern including per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and microplastics. CZM also participated in the writing of a white paper on PPCPs, entitled Framework for Understanding Contaminants of Emerging Concern in Marine Waters (PDF, 3 MB). For more information, contact CZM Coastal and Marine Scientist, Todd Callaghan, at [e-mail].

COASTSWEEP 2022 - From August through November each year, thousands of people in Massachusetts volunteer for COASTSWEEP—the statewide beach cleanup sponsored by CZM that is part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. While the numbers are still coming in for COASTSWEEP 2022, preliminary reports show that more than 4,000 volunteers scoured 154 miles of coastline to collect over 9 tons of trash this year. CZM plans to start signups for next year’s COASTSWEEP cleanups in June 2023. If you are interested in receiving information about volunteering or coordinating a cleanup, please send your contact information to [e-mail]. And thank you to all our volunteers throughout the years for your enthusiasm and commitment!

Ocean Management

Offshore Wind Projects - In 2022, CZM reviewed and provided comments on the Park City Wind (lease OCS-A0534) Final Environmental Impact Report, the Revolution Wind (lease OCS-A 0486) Draft Environmental Impact Statement, the Mayflower Wind (lease OCS-A 0521) Environmental Notification Form and Preliminary Draft Environmental Impact Statement, and the New England Wind (lease OCS-A0534) Connector 2 Environmental Notification Form. CZM also continued federal consistency review of the Sunrise Wind (lease OCS-A 0487) and Revolution wind projects. To support the sustainable development of offshore wind energy, CZM continued to lead stakeholder engagement groups related to fisheries and habitat topics, hosting meetings of the Habitat Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy and the Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy. At these meetings, offshore wind developers, fishing industry representatives, and researchers provided updates on the latest surveys, projects, research initiatives, and findings for discussion. Input received from the groups informs current and ongoing project planning and review.

Northeast Regional Ocean Council - In November, CZM completed a two-year tenure as state co-chair of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, a state and federal partnership established by the region’s Governors in 2005 to provide a voluntary forum for New England states, regional organizations, and federal partners to coordinate and collaborate on regional approaches that support balanced uses and conservation of the Northeast region’s ocean and coastal resources.

Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment - In July, CZM, representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, took over as Chair of the Council and the Working Group for the next two years. The Council was established in 1989 by the governments of Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia and works to foster environmental health and community well-being throughout the Gulf of Maine watershed.

2022 Gulf of Maine Awards—Massachusetts Awardees Include CZM’s Bob Boeri - In July, three Massachusetts individuals were honored at the Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment 2022 Awards Ceremony for their exceptional work to protect and enhance environmental quality in the Gulf of Maine. CZM’s Bob Boeri received the prestigious Susan Snow-Cotter Leadership Award for his dedication to the coastal profession. Since joining CZM, Bob has served as Dredge Coordinator, Project Review Coordinator, and Acting Assistant Director. His leadership skills and expertise allow him to bring the right people to the table to work together for effective solutions. In addition, Dr. Anna Robuck received a Visionary Award for her research on PFAS and microplastics in Massachusetts Bay food webs. Cynde McInnis, a whale watch naturalist and educator, also received a Visionary Award for her lifelong dedication to teaching about whales and the ocean. She is the creator of the Whalemobile, a 43-foot inflatable humpback whale that she brings across the country, educating thousands of students.

Coastal Habitat

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grant Awards - In August, CZM announced more than $2 million in new Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grant awards. For details on the award announcement and the eight funded projects, see the first entry in Coastal Water Quality and the EEA Press Release.

Research Priorities for Salt Marsh Resiliency - The Salt Marsh Working Group (SMWG) released Gaining Ground: Defining Priority Research for Resilient Salt Marshes (PDF, 336 KB) in March, outlining critical research needs and data gaps to support understanding and resiliency of salt marsh ecosystems in the context of a changing climate. SMWG is a network of researchers and coastal managers from state and federal agencies, nonprofits, and universities in Massachusetts and the wider New England region. The group was formed as one of five working groups of the Massachusetts Ecosystem Climate Adaptation Network (Mass ECAN) and is co-led by CZM and the UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station. Throughout 2021, SMWG identified salt marsh data gaps and research needs through a consensus-based approach, resulting in the release of this document, which is a collaborative effort representing the expertise of SMWG participants. In addition to communicating SMWG research priorities, the goal of this important work is to inspire coordinated, transdisciplinary discussion and action around the complex and intersecting challenges of salt marsh management and resilience. For more information on SMWG, see the CZM website and the UMass Amherst website.

Volunteer Monitoring of Marine Invasive Species - Every summer since 2006, citizen scientists have been on the hunt for marine invasive species at docks and rocky shorelines along the New England coast as part of the Marine Invasive Monitoring and Information Collaborative (MIMIC) coordinated by CZM. In 2022, MIMIC partners successfully monitored sites from Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, to Chebeague Island, Maine. See the MIMIC iNaturalist Project Page to view species monitored, the MIMIC Story Map for monitoring data, and CZM’s Marine Invasive Species Program for additional information, or contact Sean Duffey, Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Specialist, at [e-mail].

Long-Term Monitoring of Salt Marshes - In the summer of 2022, CZM completed fieldwork to better understand changes in salt marsh community structure as part of the Sentinel Site Monitoring Program. CZM established the Salt Marsh Sentinel Site Monitoring Program in 2015 to track changes in salt marshes through time and as sea level rises. At each sentinel site, data are recorded on plant species composition along permanent transects located from the creek bank across the marsh platform and into the upland. Physical data, including hydroperiod (duration, depth, and frequency of tidal inundation) and elevation, are also collected at each site. Sentinel sites in Essex, Barnstable, and Westport were sampled in 2017-2018 and again in 2021-2022 at permanent stations. CZM’s sentinel site program methodology was informed by monitoring performed at sentinel sites at National Estuarine Research Reserves throughout the nation, expanding the utility of this data collection to support the examination of broader trends in the region and beyond. This on-the-ground information, combined with CZM modeling and remote sensing efforts and work with partners, will be used to inform state agencies, municipal property owners, and the community at large about long-term changes in the coastal ecosystems of Massachusetts. The Sentinel Site Program is funded in part through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Wetland Program Development Grants. For more information, please contact CZM’s Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Manager, Adrienne Pappal, at [e-mail].

MassBays and CZM Eelgrass Mapping Project - This summer, the team from MassBays, CZM, and partner organizations assessed different methods of mapping eelgrass as part of an 18-month study, funded through the NOAA Project of Special Merit grant program. Eelgrass is a marine meadow-forming plant that provides critical fisheries habitat, improves water quality, stores carbon, and protects the shoreline from storms. To properly manage and protect eelgrass, accurate mapping information is needed to track the location and size of meadows. To date, several remote sensing methods, such as satellites, airplanes, drones, and underwater side scan sonar, have provided imagery that can be analyzed for eelgrass, but little is known about the accuracy and limitations of maps generated from these sources. To fill these knowledge gaps, the project team conducted remote sensing and SCUBA diver surveys at five eelgrass meadows in Massachusetts and will compare the mapping results across all survey methods to determine how well each method detects the eelgrass meadow’s edge and at what eelgrass densities each method performs best. The field surveys were completed in June and July and included 15 diver surveys, underwater photo ground truthing at nearly 500 stations, five drone flights, one airplane flight, three satellite overpasses, and five side scan sonar surveys at meadows in Gloucester, Beverly, Swampscott, Nahant, and Cohasset. Field data and imagery underwent a rigorous quality assurance process and are now undergoing analysis for reporting. Meanwhile, as another component of the project, CZM and MassBays produced a Comparison of Eelgrass Mapping Methods Story Map to provide detailed descriptions, interactive maps, photographs, videos, and slideshow features of the project. Later this winter, the Story Map will be updated with results and a final report will be made available. For more information about this project, contact [e-mail] or [e-mail].

Data and Information Management

MORIS - CZM’s Online Mapping Tool and Data Portal - In November, CZM released the latest version of the Massachusetts Ocean Resource Information System. As CZM’s official data portal, MORIS provides access to geospatial data, interactive maps, and tools pertaining to the Massachusetts coastal zone and is designed to allow users to find, share, and visualize data in an intuitive, web-based interface. The new MORIS allows users to create customized maps with a variety of data layers related to the Massachusetts coastal zone, including tide gauge stations, marine protected areas, coastal access points, eelgrass beds, Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan data, and much more. In addition to making maps, MORIS users can share and print maps, download GIS data, explore topic-specific online viewers, and find links to other mapping and coastal data resources. One major new MORIS upgrade is the ability to directly access data from other online web services. For example, MORIS now displays FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Map data directly from FEMA—so any FEMA changes to those data are seen in MORIS in real time. With this upgrade, MORIS now provides access to many more data layers, greatly adding to its utility. Check out all these features by launching the new MORIS home page.

Ocean Management Plan Data - CZM created an online viewer to allow users to work with 2021 Ocean Management Plan data, as well as add additional data and layers of their own. Data in the viewer includes bird and whale habitat, hard and complex seafloor, underwater infrastructure such as cables and pipelines, and wind energy lease areas. See the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan Data page for details and links to the viewer.

Other Data and Information Management Program Activities - Other CZM data management/GIS work in 2022 focused on:

• Designated Port Areas - The maps and descriptive text for the Lynn, Chelsea Creek, and East Boston Designated Port Areas were updated.
• Great Marsh Symposium - CZM performed analyses to determine how many miles and acres of road will be inundated in the North Shore’s Great Marsh and presented results at the annal Great Marsh Symposium in November.
• Coast Guide - CZM’s Coast Guide Online continues to provide the public with over 1,900 coastal access locations. As of late 2022, the viewer has received almost 4,000 views.

Seafloor Mapping

Geophysical and Geological Data from Cape Cod Bay - In July, CZM and the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) published High-Resolution Geophysical and Geological Data Collected in Cape Cod Bay, Massachusetts During USGS Field Activities 2019-002-FA and 2019-034-FA, datasets that includes more than 4,700-trackline-kilometers of bathymetric, backscatter, subbottom, and multi-channel seismic data, as well as seafloor photo, underwater video, and sediment texture data. These datasets are the first systematic mapping of the southern-most Gulf of Maine since the 1940s and offer an unprecedented view of Cape Cod Bay’s seafloor and subseafloor. The data support research on the geologic evolution of coastal Massachusetts, the influence of sea-level change and sediment supply on coastal change through time, and efforts to understand the type, distribution, and quality of subtidal marine habitats. This effort is part of a long-term collaboration between CZM and USGS to map state waters and develop high-resolution geologic maps and GIS data that serve the needs of research, management, and the public. For more information on CZM/USGS seafloor work, see CZM’s Seafloor and Habitat Mapping Program website and the USGS Geologic Mapping of the Massachusetts Seafloor website.

Seafloor Mapping MOU - In 2022, CZM and USGS signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to continue mapping the Massachusetts seafloor in upcoming years. As with previous efforts, mapping includes bathymetry, side scan sonar, bottom samples, and bottom photos and videos. The geographic scope of this work will be northern Nantucket Sound. Survey vessels will be at sea in both 2023 and 2024 to collect data.

Seascape Map for the Gulf of Maine - In conjunction with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management, CZM and partners (Maine Coastal Program, Maine Geological Survey, New Hampshire Coastal Program, USGS, and Tetra Tech) have developed a seascape map for the Gulf of Maine. Seascapes are the topography of the seabed represents by flats, slopes, crests, depressions, and other features. This map of the seafloor will provide a regional view of the Gulf of Maine from the highest annual tide on the coast out to 24 nautical miles. The Coastal and Marine Ecological Classification Standard and a consistent mapping approach were used, along with the best-quality data available to identify different bottom types, such as rocky areas, shoals, and moraines. This mapping product covers Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. The mapping data can be used to: identify potential project locations with suitable seafloor characteristics; understand where known sensitive habitat areas exist within the region that could trigger extra precautions during project construction and operation or that may need to be avoided; help permitting organizations and citizens develop a general understanding of potential impacts of proposed projects; and provide a general understanding of the region’s benthic habitat, such as what areas are hard or soft bottom and where the basins and banks are located. CZM and partners are preparing to continue this mapping effort south of Cape Cod in 2023.

Port and Harbor Planning

Chelsea Creek Harbor Plan Decision - In April, the Decision on the Request for Approval of the Chelsea Creek Municipal Harbor Plan and Designated Port Area Master Plan (PDF, 2 MB) was issued by the Secretary of EEA. The Municipal Harbor Plan (Plan) encompasses the waterfront area generally extending from the Andrew McCardle Bridge upstream to the confluence of Chelsea Creek with Mill Creek at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rail crossing. It builds on prior planning initiatives for the area, including the Chelsea Waterfront Visioning Plan (2016), Designing Coastal Community Infrastructure for Climate Change (2017), and the City of Chelsea’s Community Resilience Building Summary of Findings (2018). The Plan details strategies to preserve and enhance the capacity of the DPA to accommodate water-dependent industry and prevent substantial displacement of these activities by nonwater-dependent uses, and also includes a mechanism to promote resilient shoreline protection structures. The Secretary’s Decision approves the City’s Plan with modifications and conditions. For questions, please contact Joanna Yelen, Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator, at [e-mail].

Lynn DPA Boundary Review Decision - Also in April, CZM issued the conditional Designation Decision for the Lynn Designated Port Area, Lynn, MA (PDF, 535 KB), concluding the comprehensive DPA boundary review process initiated in March 2021. The decision affirms the findings and proposed DPA boundary modifications in CZM’s January 7, 2022, designation report, Boundary Review of the Lynn Harbor Designated Port Area, Lynn, MA (PDF, 638 KB). The boundary modification was made in accordance with criteria governing the suitability of contiguous lands and waters to accommodate water-dependent industrial use pursuant to 301 CMR 25.00 (PDF, 87 KB). The Commonwealth’s DPA policy seeks to promote water-dependent industries as an important sector of the state’s economy and prevent the loss of areas that have certain key characteristics that make them particularly well suited to water-dependent industrial uses. CZM is responsible for mapping, interpreting, and periodic review of DPA boundaries. For more information on DPAs, see CZM’s Designated Port Areas website.

Chelsea Creek DPA Boundary Review Decision - In September, CZM issued the Designation Decision for the Chelsea Creek Designated Port Area, Boston, MA (PDF, 1 MB), concluding the comprehensive DPA boundary review process initiated in March 2021. The decision affirms the findings and proposed DPA boundary modifications in CZM’s May 23, 2022, designation report, Boundary Review of the Chelsea Creek Designated Port Area, East Boston, MA (PDF, 2 MB), also in accordance with 301 CMR 25.00 (PDF, 87 KB).

East Boston Designated Port Area Boundary Review Decision - On December 23, CZM issued the Designation Decision for the East Boston Designated Port Area, Boston, MA (PDF, 740 KB), concluding the comprehensive Designated Port Area boundary review process initiated in January 2020. The decision affirms the findings and proposed DPA boundary modifications in CZM’s December 15, 2021, designation report, Boundary Review of the East Boston Designated Port Area, Boston, MA (PDF, 2 MB). The boundary modification was made in accordance with criteria governing the suitability of contiguous lands and waters to accommodate water-dependent industrial use pursuant to 301 CMR 25.00 (PDF, 87 KB). The Commonwealth’s DPA policy seeks to promote water-dependent industries as an important sector of the state’s economy and prevent the loss of areas that have certain key characteristics that make them particularly well suited to water-dependent industrial uses. CZM is responsible for mapping, interpreting, and periodic review of DPA boundaries. For more information on DPAs, see CZM’s Designated Port Area website.

National Working Waterfront Conference - From July 19-21, CZM co-hosted the National Working Waterfront Network (NWWN) Conference in coordination with the Urban Harbors Institute at UMass Boston and Maine Sea Grant. At the 2022 conference, held at the UMass oceanfront campus, CZM speakers and panelists were included in several program sessions. CZM Director Lisa Engler participated in a panel discussion to address how New England’s working waterfronts are adapting to change. CZM Assistant Director Tyler Soleau moderated a panel discussion focused on leveraging partnerships and funding to create thriving working waterfronts for traditional marine industries, as well as the emerging offshore wind industry in Massachusetts. The CZM team of Regional Coordinators facilitated another panel, moderated by North Shore Regional Coordinator Kathryn Glenn, on coastal resilience issues for working waterfronts, where industries must balance the need to continue operations directly adjacent to the coast while implementing resiliency techniques that protect infrastructure and assets from climate change impacts, including sea level rise and increased coastal storm surge. For more information, see the 2022 NWWN Conference website.

Report on Building Flood Resilience in DPAs - To help property owners in working waterfronts address unique resilience challenges with sea level rise, CZM funded the production of Building Resilience in Massachusetts Designated Port Areas: Resilience for Water Dependent Industrial Users in the Chelsea Creek and Gloucester Inner Harbor Designated Port Areas (PDF, 28 MB). This report gives a detailed overview of current and future flood risks facing the Chelsea Creek and Gloucester Inner Harbor DPAs over the coming decades. It also provides tailored resilience strategies to help address flood risks while continuing to support the operational needs of water-dependent industrial users in DPAs, which must remain in vulnerable locations directly adjacent to the water to maintain operations. The report was developed with support from Arcadis, U.S., Inc.

Local Planning Efforts - A number of communities continued to work on harbor planning in 2022, as summarized by region below. For more information about CZM’s harbor planning efforts, contact the CZM Regional Coordinators.

• North Shore - CZM continued to support the ongoing development of the City of Salem MHP and DPA Master Plan for Salem Harbor, which received funding from the Seaport Economic Council (SEC) and technical assistance from CZM and MassDEP. The City expects to submit the plan to the state for approval in early 2023. For more information on this planning process, see CZM’s Notice to Proceed, issued in August 2020. CZM continued to work with the City of Gloucester on their planning for a renewal and amendment of the 2014 Gloucester Harbor MHP and DPA Master Plan, also funded by SEC. CZM’s Notice to Proceed for the plan was issued to the City on November 8, 2021, and the City expects to submit the plan to the state for approval in 2023.
• Boston Harbor - On April 1, the Decision on the Request for Approval of the Chelsea Creek Municipal Harbor Plan and Designated Port Area Master Plan was issued by the Secretary of EEA. The Designation Report for the East Boston DPA Boundary was out for public comment for most of 2022. After receiving several extensions, final comments were due in November, and CZM issued a decision on the review on December 23.
• Cape Cod and Islands - The Town of Edgartown has begun an MHP update for the Edgartown Harbor Plan. The Town partnered with the Martha’s Vineyard Commission to assist in this effort and seeks to address emerging harbor management issues, including climate change impacts to harbor infrastructure and natural resources, and potential impacts to natural resources from increased recreational boating. A Notice to Proceed (PDF, 809 KB) was issued by CZM to the Town in April. CZM continues to work with representatives from Nantucket to assist in efforts to update the Nantucket and Madaket Harbors Action Plan. The Town requested and received a 12-month extension to the existing plan and has hired Urban Harbors Institute to assist with this effort. The Town of Mashpee is seeking to develop a state-approved MHP for portions of the Mashpee coastline. The Town has hired Urban Harbors Institute as their consultant to assist with this project and expects to begin the formal planning process in early 2023. The Town of Chatham requested and received a 12-month extension to the existing South Coastal Harbor Management Plan. The Town plans to begin work on a plan update in 2023.
• South Coastal - CZM worked with New Bedford and Fairhaven to extend their joint state-approved MHP, and CZM continued to take part in the State Enhanced Remedy Committee overseeing its Phase V Dredging Project in New Bedford Harbor.

Navigational Dredging Grants Program - In July, the Baker-Polito Administration announced $3.2 million in grant awards for six public dredging projects through the Massachusetts Dredging Program. These one-year construction grants will support the removal and disposal of nearly 188,000 cubic yards of harbor material, preserving or expanding the use of more than 3,000 moorings and dockage slips, as well as navigation for over 450 commercial vessels. Approximately one-third of all dredged material will be beneficially reused for public beach nourishment. Applications for the 2022 grant round were evaluated by the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development (EOHED) in collaboration with CZM and the Seaport Economic Council. This year’s dredging grants include:

• Chatham - $500,000 for dredging of the entrance channel in Stage Harbor.
• Dennis - $87,000 for dredging of the entrance channel in Sesuit Harbor.
• Harwich - $48,000 for dredging sand from the Allen Harbor entrance channel.
• Newburyport - $40,000 to dredge an area between the federal entrance channel and the north jetty of Newburyport Harbor.
• Truro - $25,000 for dredging the inlet and approach channels of Pamet Harbor.
• Wellfleet - $2,500,000 for dredging the South Anchorage in Wellfleet Harbor.

Project Review

MEPA Review - In 2022, CZM reviewed more than 70 projects submitted to the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) office. The following is a sampling of projects that were reviewed and commented on by CZM under this process:

• Vineyard Wind 2/New England Wind 1 Connector - A Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) was submitted to MEPA for the installation of two high-voltage alternating current (HVAC) offshore export cables to connect a wind energy project located within federally designated Wind Energy Area lease OCS-A 0534. The subject of this FEIR, New England Wind 1 Connector, is part of a larger project to permit an 800-megawatt (MW) offshore wind development under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), called Park City Wind. The FEIR describes project elements within state waters, including portions of the offshore export cables, onshore transmission, and substation, and the interconnection to the electrical grid at the existing 345-kilovolt West Barnstable Substation. CZM comments addressed the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan performance standards, species of concern, cable laying process, monitoring plans, fisheries mitigation, and underwater archaeological resources.
• Nantasket Avenue Seawall Repairs, Hull - This project entails the replacement of existing failing seawalls and revetments with three different approaches. The first approach includes a new seawall constructed approximately 11 feet landward of the middle of the existing seawall. The existing seawall will be partially demolished and the area between the old and new walls will be armored with 4- to 5-ton stones, and in this section of the project, Nantasket Avenue will be reduced to the width of a single-lane roadway. The second approach will completely remove the northeast section of the existing seawall, and a new seawall will be constructed to align with the existing seawall and provide protection to an existing dwelling. The existing revetment will be extended by an additional 25 feet to smooth the transition between this section and the remainder of the adjacent seawall. The third approach covers the southwest section of the seawall and will include a new concrete seawall with a reconstructed armor stone revetment. CZM commented on increasing the resilience of the project by fronting the seawall with a gravel and cobble beach to dissipate wave energy, thereby reducing erosion.
• Mayflower Wind Project - The proposed project includes the Massachusetts-jurisdictional transmission connector elements—including the offshore export cables in Massachusetts state waters, the onshore facilities for the sea-to-shore transition, and the onshore export cables—to connect offshore wind generation by Mayflower Wind Energy in federal waters to the regional transmission grid. The project includes the onshore high-voltage direct current converter station and 345-kilovolt high-voltage alternating current underground transmission lines from the converter station to the point of interconnection at the existing National Grid substation at Brayton Point and other ancillary structures. Approximately 2.1 miles of the offshore export cable corridor is proposed to pass through Massachusetts state waters in Mount Hope Bay and the Lee River. The project also proposes to install cables to the New England power grid in Falmouth.CZM comments covered compliance with the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, seafloor assessment classification methods, species of concern, coastal resiliency, cable impacts, underwater archaeological resources, monitoring, and potential impacts to fisheries.

Federal Consistency Review - In addition to state-level project review, CZM performs federal consistency review—the review of federal projects (including those requiring federal permits or receiving federal money) to ensure that they meet state standards.

• Amitié Fiber Optic Submarine Cable System - CZM completed federal consistency review and issued concurrence for the proposed installation of a trans-Atlantic fiber optic cable. The Amitié Submarine Cable System is a planned subsea cable system in the Atlantic Ocean to link the United States, France, and the United Kingdom. The cable will land in Bude (United Kingdom), Gironde (France), and Lynn, Massachusetts. The proposed buried fiber optic cable installation in the United States will stretch for about 214 miles from the Exclusive Economic Zone to a utility manhole in Lynn, approximately 33.7 miles of which would be in Massachusetts state waters, with additional length on shore. Including the additional length of cable on shore, roughly 34 miles of the project will be within the Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Boundary.
• Additional Federal Consistency Review - Overall, CZM issued more than 110 federal consistency review decisions in 2022, including federal consistency concurrences for these projects: Duxbury Beach Reservation Association dune construction; City of Gloucester and Town of Marion National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) wastewater treatment facility permits; NPDES permits for the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, Swansea Desalination District, and New England Aquarium’s Boston and Quincy facilities; EPA General Permit for Medium Wastewater Treatment Facilities and for Dewatering and Remediation Activity Discharge; USACE Marshfield Green Harbor Federal Navigation project; NOAA/Coast Survey Proposed Hydrographic Survey of Approach to Newport Rhode Island; National Ocean Service Mapping and Surveying Activities Undertaken in the State Coastal Zone, 2023-2027; NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service-National Negative Determination for Guidelines for Safely Deterring Marine Mammals; U.S. Coast Guard Base Boston’s water shore tie and heat trace repair project; MBTA Gloucester Draw Railroad Bridge Replacement Project; Town of Tisbury Marine Terminal project; and Town of Yarmouth’s Comprehensive Maintenance Dredging Program.

Communications and Publications

Stormwater Solutions for Homeowners Fact Sheets - In spring 2022, CZM launched the Stormwater Solutions for Homeowners website with fact sheets that offer property owners a range of best practices for reducing and treating stormwater on site. Each fact sheet includes information on the technique’s benefits; recommended guidelines for locating, designing, implementing, and maintaining specific practices; and a brief overview of regulatory and permitting requirements. The included step-by-step instructional guidelines, photos, and figures allow homeowners to select appropriate projects and practices for their property that help protect local water quality, reduce flooding, and improve wildlife habitats. These five fact sheets were completed this year: Vegetated Buffers, “Green” Lawn and Garden Practices, Rain Gardens, Reducing Impervious Surfaces, and Minimizing Contaminants. In the coming year, CZM will add additional fact sheets on Preventing Erosion and Vegetated Swales. CZM would like to thank the staff from MassDEP and the members of the Technical Advisory Committee—stormwater specialists, engineers, natural resources specialists, and other environmental consultants with extensive stormwater management experience—who provided their expertise in the review of these materials.

50 Ways to Protect the Massachusetts Coast - In 1972, four important pieces of legislation were enacted that form the foundation for ocean and coastal protection in the United States—the Clean Water Act, Marine Mammal Protection Act, National Marine Sanctuaries Act, and Coastal Zone Management Act (CZMA). The CZMA established the voluntary program that gives coastal states the funding and opportunity to develop and implement plans to manage coastal resources, which led to the development of the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management. To commemorate this 50^th anniversary, CZM released 50 Ways to Protect the Massachusetts Coast - CZMA Anniversary Edition. In addition, CZM joined the NOAA Office for Coastal Resources and other partners in highlighting 50 Years of Ocean & Coastal Conservation, which included a year-long social media campaign.

CZM Regional Offices

CZM works closely with communities to support local coastal management—an effort led by CZM’s Regional Coordinators, who serve as liaisons between federal and state programs and municipal authorities, coordinate regional initiatives, perform federal consistency review, and provide technical assistance. Each region’s 2022 accomplishments are provided below.

North Shore (Salisbury to Revere) - CZM continued to provide North Shore communities with direct technical assistance and pre-application permitting guidance on topics including development and redevelopment in floodplains, improving resilience to climate change impacts, coastal bank erosion, flooding, and port planning. Three FY 2022 Coastal Resilience grant projects wrapped up in June, including the continuation of permitting for The Trustees of Reservations and the Town of Ipswich on the Argilla Road resilience project, Salem’s “deep-dive” analysis of current and future climate impacts on the Palmer Cove area, and the expanded analysis and design phase for resiliency improvements at the Marblehead Municipal Light Department and adjacent public lands. CZM also collaborated with municipal officials to develop project ideas for the FY 2023 Coastal Resilience grant round—resulting in seven new awards on the North Shore, including projects in Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Marblehead, Nahant, and Salem, and partnerships with the House of Seven Gables Settlement Association in Salem and Mass Audubon on Eastern Point in Gloucester. CZM continued to work with MVP Regional Coordinators to provide technical assistance as needed for MVP Planning and Action Grants for the North Shore region. CZM worked with partners from the Great Marsh Coalition to raise awareness of issues facing the marsh and to improve the resilience of the marsh and its communities. This work included planning for and participation in the November Great Marsh Symposium, titled The Future of Roads through the Great Marsh: Balancing Access with Natural Resource Protection, which drew more than 150 participants. CZM continues to partner with members of the Parker Ipswich Essex Rivers Restoration Partnership team (PIE Rivers) to work toward protection and increased awareness of the importance of these watersheds to the health and resilience of the Great Marsh. CZM also continues to facilitate the listserv for the North Shore Regional Conservation Commission Network in partnership with the MassDEP Northeast Regional Office Circuit Rider. This network links more than 50 local community staff and commission members for collaboration and problem solving and provides timely information on coastal issues, training opportunities, and grant postings.

Boston Harbor (Winthrop to Weymouth) - CZM supported multiple projects funded by several grant programs, including Coastal Resilience Grant projects in the Boston Harbor region, most notably in Braintree, and MVP Action Grant projects in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, and Winthrop. CZM served on the steering committee for Phase II of the City of Boston’s Climate Ready East Boston and Charlestown planning initiative. The plan was released in August. CZM also represented EEA on the Fort Point Channel Operations Board, providing support for Board efforts. The Operations Board conducted another successful round of Watersheet Activation Grants, which are funded with monies required by MassDEP in the Chapter 91 License for Atlantic Wharf along the Fort Point Channel. All three grant requests that were submitted were awarded funds.

South Shore (Hingham to Plymouth) - CZM provided technical, grant application, wetland and water quality monitoring, and coordination assistance to several regionally significant wetland restoration, stewardship, and shoreline protection projects on the South Shore this year. CZM continued to partner with the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), MassBays, Mass Audubon, and municipal stakeholders to convene and facilitate quarterly meetings of a regional coastal resiliency informational sharing network to discuss local initiatives, needs for future activities, and opportunities for inter-municipal and regional-scale efforts. The following topics were covered through the network meetings: resilience project success stories, including dune restoration in Hull; culvert replacement, stream daylighting, and marsh restoration in Weymouth; dam removal and brook restoration in Norwell; incorporation of climate projections into local regulations; and an overview of this past summer’s drought, its local impacts on waterways and water supply responses, and a new initiative to develop a regional water resiliency task force modeled after a similar initiative on the North Shore. CZM provided technical, coordination, and facilitation assistance for Coastal Resilience Grants awarded to Cohasset, the Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc., Duxbury and Marshfield, Hingham, Hull, Plymouth, and Scituate. CZM provided technical and coordination assistance to Kingston for the Grays Beach Raingarden Implementation project, which was funded with a CPR grant and successfully completed in the summer. Through the new Coastal Water Quality and Habitat Restoration grants, CZM supported the Elm Street Best Management Practice (BMP) implementation project, which focuses on mitigation of stormwater discharge to the Jones River, and the Jones River Habitat Assessment. Lastly, CZM continued ongoing investigations of post-restoration ecology of Straits Pond in Cohasset, Hingham, and Hull and the Green Harbor River in Marshfield. As part of this work, CZM helped to convene and facilitate interagency Advisory Committees on potential adaptive management initiatives for the pond. At Straits Pond, work included sediment sampling to inform the potential for removal of accumulated sediments in the channel to improve hydraulic and tidal exchange with the outer estuary. Efforts in the Green Harbor River included working with the Town of Marshfield to install real-time water level and telemetry equipment, conducting water quality monitoring of the estuarine system, and adjusting tide gate settings to increase tidal exchange between the river and the bay. These efforts build on the improvements to the pond and river ecology associated with past tide gate and culvert enhancement implementation initiatives.

Cape Cod and Islands (Bourne to Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Gosnold) - CZM worked closely with many of the 23 communities in the region this year, providing direct technical assistance on a variety of coastal issues, including: impacts from coastal flooding and implementation of measures to improve coastal resilience, coastal erosion and beach management, water quality monitoring, stormwater management, harbor planning, and dredging. CZM worked with representatives from Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Edgartown, Falmouth, Gosnold, Orleans, Provincetown, Tisbury, Truro, Wellfleet, the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI) to implement Coastal Resilience Grant projects funded in the FY 2022/23 grant rounds. Projects include regional planning, design and permitting, and both large and small-scale implementation efforts. CZM continued to serve on the Barnstable County Coastal Committee, which helps coordinate state, local, and county coastal management initiatives; as co-chair of the Barnstable County Coastal Management Committee; and as a member of the Barnstable County Dredge Program (BCDP), acting as a liaison between the BCDP and state and federal permitting agencies. CZM worked directly with conservation commissions and agents throughout the region and continued to co-chair the Cape and Islands Conservation Commission Network. CZM participated in the grant review process for the 2023 MVP grants for the region and on the Herring River Restoration Regulatory Oversight Group. CZM provided project-specific technical assistance to conservation commissions in Brewster, Chatham, Edgartown, Falmouth, Harwich, Oak Bluffs, Provincetown, and Sandwich. Lastly, CZM continued to serve on several additional boards and committees, including the Pleasant Bay Coastal Resource Workgroup and WHOI Sea Grant Marine Outreach Guidance Group. On October 24, the sixth Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Conference was held in Vineyard Haven—a bi-annual conference has not been held for the past three years due to COVID-19 restrictions. More than 90 people attended this free conference, which was co-sponsored by CZM, The Trustees of Reservation, Barnstable County, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah), Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and WHOI Sea Grant. Presentations focused on existing and emerging coastal issues, including the impacts of sea level rise and storms on island flooding, erosion impacts and projections, salt marsh restoration, and resilience planning. Heather Goldstone from the Woodwell Climate Research Center provided the keynote presentation on climate change impacts, and State Representative Dylan Fernandes addressed the attendees.

South Coastal (Wareham to Seekonk) - In 2022, CZM worked closely with South Coastal communities on five FY 2022 Coastal Resilience Grants: Dartmouth’s shoreline stabilization design at Apponagansett Park, Wareham’s effort to install a back-up generator at its wastewater pump station located at the Narrows, Marion’s project to install an emergency bypass pumping connection at their Front Street wastewater pump station, and two Mattapoisett projects to design an emergency bypass off of Old Slough Road and complete the design for a sewer line relocation adjacent to Eel Pond. Within the South Coastal Region, CZM is in the process of starting three new FY 2023 Coastal Resilience Grant projects in Mattapoisett, New Bedford, and Wareham. CZM continued to work closely with the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program through participation on their Steering Committee and municipal grant review and selection committee. Throughout the year, CZM also provided technical assistance on many other state and federal grant programs. CZM regularly attended meetings of the Buzzards Bay Action Committee and Buzzards Bay Watershed Restoration Partnership Stakeholder Group to help facilitate CZM’s liaison function with coastal communities. CZM continues to work with the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife as part of the Technical Working Group focused on restoration of the Roseate Tern habitat on Ram Island in Mattapoisett. CZM reviewed selected coastal projects and provided project comments to state and federal permitting agencies and provided technical assistance to municipalities and individuals.

Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program

CZM hosts and administers the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP), which works to protect and restore water quality and living resources in Buzzards Bay and its watershed. The program’s highlights from 2022 are included below.

Buzzards Bay Municipal Mini-Grants Program - In June, through its municipal mini-grant program, the Buzzards Bay NEP provided $12,500 to the Town of Carver to hire an engineering firm to conduct fieldwork and produce an updated stormdrain map, which will allow the Town to prioritize direct outfalls that pose the most significant threat to the Weweantic River, which runs to Buzzards Bay. Once outfalls are prioritized, the Town can mitigate discharges by installing leaching catch basins with no discharges. In addition, the funds will be used to haul 150 tons of street sweeping/catch basin waste to a disposal facility. In November, the Buzzards Bay NEP awarded $195,000 in additional federally funded grant awards for projects that will protect drinking water supplies, preserve important habitat, and address pollution from stormwater runoff in the Buzzards Bay watershed. These five grants to four towns, which are being matched by over $132,000 in private contributions and in-kind services, were awarded with funding from the EPA Southeast New England Program (SNEP):

• Rochester - $70,000 to work with the Towns of Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Marion, and Acushnet, along with the Buzzards Bay Coalition, to purchase and permanently protect 240 acres of land important to protect the Mattapoisett River Valley aquifer. This land acquisition is part of a larger coordinated project that aims to protect thousands of acres in the Mattapoisett River Valley. The newly purchased land will protect a multi-town public drinking water supply resource, as well as wetlands, fields, forests, and habitat for fish and wildlife, and it will provide outdoor recreational opportunities for the public. In addition, the project will benefit the resiliency of the aquifer by preventing land use change and associated activities that impact water quality and disrupt groundwater recharge.
• Mattapoisett - $35,000 to establish a strategic master plan for stormwater management in the Shipyard Lane area, which lies east of Mattapoisett Village and is a Town of Mattapoisett priority for stormwater remediation. Stormwater runoff from this area discharges into Mattapoisett Harbor and contributes to shellfish bed closures. The Town will inventory the existing infrastructure and develop a master stormwater plan specifically for the Shipyard Lane area. This master plan will serve as a vital planning tool for the design and construction phase. The project will focus on mapping the watershed to identify target areas for stormwater treatment prior to discharge into Mattapoisett Harbor.
• Mattapoisett - $35,000 to work with the Mattapoisett Land Trust to purchase and permanently protect two parcels of undeveloped land totaling 14 acres in the Brandt Island Cove area of Mattapoisett. The properties consist of forested wetlands and upland coastal forest and contain important state-designated habitat, including habitat for rare species. The Mattapoisett Land Trust intends to create a trail system, which will connect to a larger network of trails, as well as a small parking area on the property to allow for public access.
• Westport - $30,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to purchase and permanently protect 25 acres of land associated with the headwaters of Snell Creek, a tributary of the East Branch of the Westport River. Snell Creek is one of only a handful of coldwater streams in Westport that support a native population of sea run brook trout, a climate-vulnerable species that is declining throughout its range due to land use changes, habitat loss, and interactions with non-native species. Coldwater streams (such as Snell Creek) and their habitats are particularly sensitive to temperature increases, which could greatly impact sea run brook trout populations. Protection of this property will ensure continued vegetated shading of the stream and help preserve vital habitats, wetlands, and water quality of Snell Creek.
• Fairhaven - $25,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to permanently protect 9 acres of land that provide a key upland buffer to wetlands and protect important wildlife habitats, including state-designated habitat. Protection of the land will also ensure existing saltmarsh can migrate to an undeveloped area as sea level rise begins to flood adjacent low gradient, low elevation uplands. Once acquired, the land will be open to the public for passive recreational purposes and will provide coastal public access to outer New Bedford Harbor.

For more information, see the EEA Press Release.

Buzzards Bay Targeted Grants - With funding from SNEP’s Clean Water Act Section 320 funds and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, the Buzzards Bay NEP was able to initiate these five subawards.

• Baywatchers Program - The NEP continued to support the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers water quality monitoring program with a $40,000 grant. For 30 years, Baywatchers has collected basic water quality, nutrient, and algal pigment information around Buzzards Bay during the summer months and educated the public on local water quality. Since 1992, this effort has directly engaged more than 1,000 citizen scientists and has resulted in an impressive dataset of long-term trends for the ecological health of over 200 locations around the Bay.
• Nutrient Inputs to Buzzards Bay from Coastal Rivers - Nitrogen and phosphorus discharged into coastal rivers is one of the major sources of these nutrients in Buzzards Bay. Although the water quality in the estuarine embayments has been monitored for 30 years as part of the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers program, the nutrient input contributed by rivers remains poorly understood. Quantifying nutrient flows from rivers is important for validating watershed pollutant loading models and for understanding how residential and commercial development, land and agricultural management, and ecological restoration activities influence nutrient delivery to Buzzards Bay. Because climate change will bring increasingly variable precipitation to the Northeast, understanding river-borne sources of nutrients to Buzzards Bay will be critical to addressing nutrient loads to the Bay in the future. With a $45,000 award to the Woodwell Climate Research Center of Woods Hole, this river nitrogen loading study, led by Woodwell scientist Chris Neil, continued to monitor 12 Buzzards Bay streams. The funding helped pay for continuous monitoring equipment and laboratory testing to measure nitrogen inputs to Buzzards Bay from these coastal rivers. 
• Buzzards Bay Long-Term Salt Marsh Study - Salt marshes in Buzzards Bay play a vital role by providing habitat, regulating water quality, and stabilizing coastlines. In recent years, many coastal towns have experienced the degradation or loss of salt marshes. To better understand and halt this trend, the Buzzards Bay NEP continues to support efforts by the Buzzards Bay Coalition and scientists at the Woodwell Climate Research Center to track salt marsh loss in Buzzards Bay caused principally by climate change related factors. The NEP is interpreting historical aerial photographs and processing elevation data from GPS and field surveys. In 2022, the program expanded through a partnership with the UMass Dartmouth Civil and Environmental Engineering program, with students of Professor Dan MacDonald. The $49,000 award for this project enabled UMass Dartmouth to conduct field surveys using Unmanned Aircraft Systems. The imagery will be processed with photogrammetry software to generate highly detailed Digital Surface Models and georectified true color imagery. UMass Dartmouth will use existing National Geodetic Survey rod benchmarks installed by the Buzzards Bay NEP as elevation controls. The work will continue through 2023. For more information on the marsh studies, see this Buzzards Bay NEP web post.
• New Bedford Public Schools Sea Lab Summer Program - The Sea Lab Marine Science Education Center is a New Bedford Public Schools summer school program supported through tuition and the Local Education Agency. One of the fundamental elements of the Sea Lab program is its focus on providing educational equity for all public-school students. With a $27,500 award from the NEP, Sea Lab will provide scholarships to up to 40 students to enable more minorities and economically disadvantaged youth in New Bedford to participate in the environmental studies program. The NEP funded a student initiative to install water bottle filling stations and provide reusable bottles to reduce the single-use plastic water bottles by the school. The NEP also funded a field trip to Cuttyhunk Island in Buzzards Bay, a whale watch off Cape Cod, and a weather station for the school.
• Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative - The Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative is a partnership between the NEP, Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA), and eight Buzzards Bay watershed municipalities (Westport, Dartmouth, Acushnet, Fairhaven, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, and Bourne). The focus of the collaborative is to monitor stormwater discharges and map stormwater networks (particularly those contributing to shellfish beds closures) and other municipal stormwater discharges covered under federal Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4) stormwater permits. In December, the NEP initiated a $97,000 award to MMA using EPA funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support an MMA program manager and certain administrative costs of MMA co-op students in the program. The students are funded directly by the municipalities in the Collaborative. In 2022, local contributions totaled $70,000. In addition, MMA received a $71,000 grant from MassDEP Municipal MS4 grant program to continue training on the use of a trailer and equipment for detecting illicit discharges into stormwater networks. The Buzzards Bay NEP continues to provide technical oversight, GIS management, data processing and analysis, and free laboratory testing services to municipalities in the Stormwater Collaborative. Training videos for the program can be found at the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative YouTube channel. For additional information about the collaborative, including an interactive map of stormwater infrastructure and discharge water quality data, see the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative page.

Technical Assistance - The Buzzards Bay NEP continued to assist municipalities and other partners with GIS analysis, proposal development, review of local projects, and training and support for municipal stormwater MS4 permit compliance. The NEP provided more than 450 map and GIS products to the Buzzards Bay Coalition, area land trusts, and municipalities in their efforts to protect important habitat and open space in Buzzards Bay. The Buzzards Bay NEP continues to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition Science Advisory Committee and a team of scientists in Woods Hole to identify pressing issues related to climate change, nitrogen and toxic pollution, and loss of wetlands habitat and living resources in Buzzards Bay.

SNEP and SNEP Grant Awardee Support - The Buzzards Bay NEP is an advising partner to EPA in implementing SNEP and is a supporting partner to several SNEP and MassDEP grant awards.

• Watershed Assessment - The Buzzards Bay NEP is supporting a five-year focus on Apponagansett Bay by the Buzzards Bay Coalition under the SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative. The funding will help to identify and prioritize sources of watershed impairments and develop solutions to address stream alteration and nutrient loading in an urbanized section of the Buttonwood Brook-Apponagansett Bay area of Massachusetts. The Buzzards Bay NEP is supporting the effort by providing land use analysis and GIS services during the five-year project to support total maximum daily load (TMDL) development.
• TMDL Assessment - The NEP is continuing to work with the Town of Bourne and the Buzzards Bay Coalition on a MassDEP 604(b) grant to conduct a TMDL assessment for Red Brook Harbor Phinneys Harbor Complex in the Town of Bourne. The NEP has agreed to complete several tasks for this assessment (at no cost), which will include: conducting GIS analyses of watershed land use, including the number of onsite systems; determining occupancy rates for census data; and determining land use types, including estimates of impervious area, lawn area, extent of sewering, and assessment of pollutant loadings.
• Runnel Study - The NEP is supporting a Runnel Study Collaboration between the Woodwell Climate Center and the Buzzards Bay Coalition. Scientists are looking at how the use of runnels—constructed shallow drainage meanders—may promote revegetation in upper areas of salt marsh that are dying off from standing water. The results of this work will help town officials and state and federal mangers develop possible mitigation strategies to protect and restore salt marshes. The NEP is documenting changes in marsh boundaries, and processing GPS and elevation data for the study.

Climate Resiliency Assessment - In 2022, the Buzzards Bay Coalition, in partnership with the NEP, hosted five meetings with key stakeholders to identify concerns about climate change risks and climate adaptation planning in relation to meeting the goals and objectives of the Buzzards Bay Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP). The CCMP is the guiding document used by the NEP in its mission to protect and restore water quality and living resources in Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed. This climate vulnerability assessment will be incorporated into the 2023 update of the Buzzards Bay CCMP, where certain strategies may be revised to accommodate expected impacts of climate change.

Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources

CZM also hosts the Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources (BUAR), which is the sole trustee of the Commonwealth’s underwater cultural heritage and is charged with encouraging the discovery, reporting, interpretation, and protection of these resources. BUAR accomplishments in 2022 are below.

Maritime Heritage Presentations and Educational Programs - In 2022, BUAR gave 18 public and professional presentations (via remote access and in person) on a variety of maritime heritage-related topics and participated in multiple meetings and programs throughout Massachusetts and southern New England in national, international, and Indigenous community forums. Topics covered included underwater archaeology, Massachusetts shipwrecks and submerged paleocultural landscapes, Tribal consultation, and the threat to Massachusetts coastal heritage resources from erosion exacerbated by sea level rise. Presentations were given to Massachusetts dive clubs (Bay State Council of Divers and North Shore Frogmen Dive Club), community organizations (Salem Marine Society and Dedham Retired Men’s Club), and museums (Boston Museum of Science, Essex Shipbuilding Museum, and Mystic Seaport). Free public lectures and discussions were presented as part of Boston Harbor Now’s “Revolutionary Harbor Lecture Series,” Essex Shipbuilding Museum’s “Necropsy of the Historical Fishing Schooner Sylvina W. Beal,” Massachusetts Archaeological Society’s “Wampanoag Heritage and Archaeology Fair,” and Cape Cod National Seashore’s “Science, Shipwrecks, and Shorelines” workshop. BUAR also led and participated in several interactive tours of maritime heritage sites for school-age children, families, and adults as part of The Trustees of Reservations educational and special events programs (several of which were offered during Massachusetts Archaeology Month). Presentations on underwater archaeology were also given to middle school and post-graduate groups during the Cape Cod Academy’s “Archaeology of Cape Cod” Winterim Program and Mystic Seaport’s Munson Institute’s “Reimagining New England: Historical Injustice, Sovereignty and Freedom” project and program, offered in collaboration with Brown University’s Center for the Study of Slavery & Justice and William’s College. In 2022, BUAR also interacted regularly with the public by serving as weekend volunteer museum docent at the Massachusetts Archaeological Society’s Robbins Museum in Middleboro as a Trustee of the Society.

Tribal Engagement and Coordination - BUAR continued working on relationship-building and active engagement with the region’s Indigenous communities, participating in an on-site meeting at the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation Reservation in Mashantucket, Connecticut, as well as with Tribal Historic Preservation Office staff from the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah). BUAR also reviewed and provided technical review and comments to the Tribes and BOEM and a letter of support for their proposed “Capacity Building and Collaboration with the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes Project.”

Underwater Archaeological Resources in Regional Coastal and Ocean Planning - BUAR participated in several meetings with staff of the University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resource Center (CRC) to provide input on the “Modeling, Visualizing, and Communicating Nor’easter and Hurricane Threats with Sea-level Rise to Support Coastal Management within New England” project, which focuses on multiple locations throughout the Northeast, including several areas along Massachusetts coast. BUAR also participated in CRC’s “Multi-Use Ocean Planning Workshop” designed to create open dialog between different representatives from the fishing, conservation, research, and government sectors to engage in a process to thoughtfully develop a realistic, yet optimistic, 10-year vision for shaping an ocean future together.

Field Investigations - In 2022, BUAR undertook field investigations and provided technical expertise on multiple underwater and intertidal archaeological sites, paleolandscapes, and artifacts located in Chatham, Chelsea, Dennis, Dighton, Essex, Ipswich, Marshfield, Nantucket, North Plymouth, Orleans, Quincy, Scituate, and Westport. The sites were situated in offshore, coastal, intertidal, and inland waters and included discoveries made by residents walking and kayaking along the shore, as well as those reported by staff of The Trustees of Reservations and federal, state, and local agency representatives. Sites and artifacts that were investigated/documented included a wooden-stocked anchor, fish-weirs, a stone-edged earthen pier, wooden ship remains, a tide mill, and exposed areas of submerged and intertidal paleolandscapes. These investigations led to two important discoveries: 1) The Trustees of Reservations-funded accelerator mass spectrometry, radiocarbon dating of a pre-European contact period wooden fish-trap—only the second of just two areas in Massachusetts found to contain a wooden fish-trap (the other being the complex of circa 4,500 year-old wooden fish-weirs identified deeply buried beneath Boylston Street in downtown Boston) and 2) the identification of the wood species as Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga canadensis) for an as-yet dated wooden bow, the first of its kind to be found in an archaeological context in Massachusetts.

Publications - In 2022, BUAR co-authored—with colleagues from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society—the Historical Archaeology journal article, “Rising Waters and Coastal Maritime Heritage at Risk in Massachusetts: A Warning from the Ada K. Damon Shipwreck Site,” focusing on the vulnerability of Massachusetts coastal maritime heritage to climate change-induced sea level rise and erosion. Publication of the article is scheduled for 2023.

Staff & People

In looking back over the year, CZM said goodbye to one team member and welcomed new staff.

Marine GIS/Mapping Specialist - In September, CZM’s Marine GIS/Mapping Specialist, Samantha Coccia-Schillo, left CZM to be closer to family and friends in upstate New York. Hired in 2016 after completing her master’s degree in Geographic Information Science for Development and the Environment from Clark University, Samantha worked on a variety of projects that touched nearly all CZM programs, including port and harbor planning, coastal access, project review, and grants, as well as all manner of data development, analysis, and cartography. Three large projects encapsulate her contributions to CZM. First, Samantha took the lead in developing Coast Guide Online, CZM’s interactive map that displays the more than 1,900 sites along the Massachusetts coast owned by government agencies and nonprofits and open to the public. She also handled much of the mapping and analysis work that forms the core of the 2021 Ocean Management Plan, which provides a framework for ocean-based projects in Massachusetts waters. More recently, Samantha was involved in helping to guide wind energy siting in the Gulf of Maine, using her experience with spatial models to conduct high-level site suitability analyses by balancing multiple competing criteria. While her mapping and analytical skills were apparent to all, so was her work ethic, flexibility, reliability, and ever friendly and professional demeanor.

New Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator - In April, CZM welcomed Joanna Yelen as the new Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator. Before coming to CZM, Joanna served as a Regional Planner at the Energy Facilities Siting Board within the Department of Public Utilities, where she reviewed energy facility proposals, including offshore wind, and analyzed their potential environmental impacts. Prior to that, Joanna was a Project Controls Analyst with Arcadis and was placed at Chicago’s Jardine Water Treatment Facility, one of Arcadis’s municipal clients, where she gained knowledge of water treatment facilities, critical infrastructure, and funding for large-scale water distribution projects. She also served as a Fiscal Policy Analyst for the House Ways and Means Committee in the Massachusetts Legislature, and has held fieldwork positions, including assessing aging culverts to promote better aquatic passability at road-stream crossings. Joanna brings direct environmental and public-sector experience in state and municipal planning and funding to her new role as CZM’s Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator, along with her diligence in environmental practices and a commitment to the conservation profession.

Marine GIS/Mapping Specialist - In August, CZM welcomed Brooke C. Hodge as the new Marine GIS/Mapping Specialist. Before joining CZM, Brooke was an Associate Scientist/GIS Specialist at the New England Aquarium, where she spent 12 years involved in marine conservation focusing on the risks and impacts of human activities on the marine environment and its inhabitants, marine mammals, and the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. She also investigated ocean use conflicts and ecosystem service trade-off analyses informing marine spatial planning—work that helped inform the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan. Many scientific papers have benefited from Brooke’s knowledge and hard work. She has a B.S. in Environmental Policy and Planning from Miami University and an M.S. in Environmental Science from the University of Wisconsin Green Bay, where she developed an interest in GIS, resulting in a Certificate in Geographic Information Sciences. In addition to her work at the Aquarium, she has also taught various GIS courses at Boston University and UMass Boston. Brooke brings direct marine spatial expertise experience to her new role as CZM’s Marine GIS/Mapping Specialist, along with her teamwork, organizations, and cartographic skills.

NOAA Coastal Management Fellow - In August, CZM also welcomed Lexie Neffinger as our 10^th Coastal Management Fellow from the NOAA Office for Coastal Management. Nominated by the Texas Sea Grant College Program, Lexie was matched with CZM through a rigorous selection and interview process. During her two-year fellowship, Lexie will support CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Team and Coastal Resilience Grant Program with environmental justice community engagement on shoreline restoration opportunities for increased coastal resilience and other benefits. She has a B.S. in Environmental Science from Fordham University and recently completed an M.S. in Coastal and Marine System Science from Texas A&M University. Her master’s thesis research informed the development of a standardized tool to assess biological communities in tidal streams for the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Lexie also supported the University’s Coastal Conservation and Restoration Ecology Lab with research and outreach concerning oyster reef restoration in embayments along the Texas coast. She is interested in science communication and community-driven resource management focused on nature-based shoreline resilience. For more details on the Coastal Management Fellowship, see the NOAA Press Release.

GIS Intern - In January, CZM welcomed Jessica November as a GIS Intern with the Data Management Program. While at CZM, Jessica updated the Massachusetts Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Viewer with newer and more functional technology. She also painstakingly revised details for every critical infrastructure point (police stations, elderly care communities, airports, train stations, schools, etc.) in the coastal zone, often confirming information with direct phone calls. The final result is a modernized viewer with current critical infrastructure data. Jessica is working on her master’s degree in GIS at Salem State University and currently works as an intern with the City of Salem’s Engineering Department. Thank you, Jessica, and best of luck in your future GIS career focusing on adapting coastal infrastructure to climate change!

Offshore Project Review Specialist - Looking to 2023, Dr. Hollie Emery will join the CZM team in January as the new Offshore Project Review Specialist. Previously, Hollie was a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University working on alternative renewable energy using seafloor microbes. She earned a Ph.D. in Earth and Environmental Sciences from Boston University (BU) and a B.S. in Biology from UMass. At BU, she designed and taught an undergraduate Environmental Science course in the programming language “R,” with topics including fishery harvest, population modeling, diffusion modeling, statistical analysis, and data management, earning her an Outstanding Teaching Fellow award. Many scientific papers have benefited from Hollie’s skills and knowledge in salt marsh greenhouse gas fluxes, methane emissions after tidal restoration, geochemical cycling, marine microbial ecology, seafloor methane seeps, and the capture of geothermal and geochemical renewable energy from the seafloor. Hollie’s strong analytical skills and passion for marine science will make an immediate contribution to CZM’s environmental review of offshore wind and other blue water development projects off the coast of Massachusetts. Welcome aboard Hollie!