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CZ-Mail Year in Review - 2024

Published January 2025

Welcome to the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM) year-in-review edition of CZ-Mail, which highlights CZM accomplishments for 2024, 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 2025.

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 additional CZM updates are posted on Twitter/X. To subscribe to CZ-Mail, send a blank email (please be sure that the email is completely blank, with no signature line) to join-env-czmail@listserv.state.ma.us. Also, 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, email your request to CZ-Mail@mass.gov.

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Overview of 2024 at CZM

CZM had a busy and productive year, planning for coastal resilience, supporting proactive and balanced offshore wind energy development, securing federal funding and resources, providing substantial funding to coastal communities, and delivering technical assistance, research, and planning support on climate change, coastal habitats, water quality, invasive species, offshore wind development, and more. ResilientCoasts—an initiative launched by the Healey-Driscoll Administration in November 2023—has been a major focus this year. CZM hired a Chief Coastal Resilience Officer to oversee the effort; held public meetings, conducted surveys, and connected directly with coastal communities and other stakeholders to get input; developed draft Coastal Resilience Districts to help facilitate regional projects and partnerships; and began drafting the ResilientCoasts plan. Offshore wind energy development in the Commonwealth has been another priority, with CZM playing a leading role with Massachusetts Interagency Offshore Wind Council’s development of an offshore wind strategic plan, working with state and federal partners to support the Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Lease Auction that took place in October, supporting extensive data and policy development, and providing thorough review of several offshore wind projects. CZM also brought in significant federal funding and other resources in 2024. CZM was instrumental in securing nearly $5 million in federal funds announced in April to transform retired cranberry bogs to resilient coastal wetlands in Yarmouth and Bourne. In addition, in November, CZM won a national competition to secure $700,000 in matching funds to map the seafloor in the Gulf of Maine offshore wind lease area. Also in November, CZM was notified about being selected to host a federally funded Coastal Management Fellow to support CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Program by expanding awareness of vulnerabilities to coastal storms and sea level rise using the MyCoast tool. As for financial assistance to coastal communities, CZM awarded $5.2 million in Coastal Resilience Grants in October for 16 local projects and completed another 26 Coastal Resilience Grants this year. CZM also announced more than $600,000 in Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants in August to support five projects and wrapped up another eight projects. Through these two CZM grant programs, local partners provided more than $815,000 in matching funds, demonstrating a strong local commitment to coastal protection efforts. And in September, CZM’s COASTSWEEP beach cleanup was featured by WBZ-TV—a shout out to our thousands of volunteers who turn out each year to remove trash and other marine debris from Massachusetts shorelines! All of this occurred during a change in leadership with CZM welcoming a new Director, Alison Brizius, in May after bidding farewell to former Director Lisa Berry Engler in January. Additional 2024 highlights from the entire CZM team are summarized below by program area, along with major accomplishments from the two programs hosted by CZM: Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program and Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources.

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 2024 accomplishments for each CZM program area are listed below.

ResilientCoasts

The goal of the ResilientCoasts initiative—which was launched in November 2023 and is led by CZM—is to develop a comprehensive, state-wide strategy for coastal resilience to sea level rise, coastal storms, flooding, and erosion. In collaboration with the state’s coastal communities and other stakeholders, ResilientCoasts is pursuing a multipronged approach to identify regulatory, policy, and funding mechanisms to develop focused long-term solutions. ResilientCoasts has progressed in 2024 under the leadership of CZM’s first Chief Coastal Resilience Officer, who was hired in May (see Healey-Driscoll Administration Names Deanna Moran as Chief Coastal Resilience Officer).

ResilientCoasts Plan - The ResilientCoasts initiative has engaged with coastal communities, businesses, community-based organizations, environmental advocates, scientists, and other stakeholders on regional Coastal Resilience Districts and approaches to improve health and safety, protect and enhance natural and cultural resources, adapt infrastructure, strengthen the state’s coastal economy, advance equity and environmental justice, and support the capacity of coastal communities. A working group comprised of state agency representatives and an external stakeholder task force have helped guide the development of the plan. Engagement opportunities have also included public meetings, public surveys, and focus groups (see below for details). Please follow CZ-Mail and the ResilientCoasts web page for updates on the plan in 2025.

Community Engagement - Community engagement is central to ResilientCoasts, with a variety of formats for stakeholder participation spaced throughout the project timeline. An external task force and an internal working group were formed at the beginning of the planning process. Public meetings, public surveys, regional meetings, focus groups, and office hours are offering additional opportunities for sharing information on the initiative and for CZM to receive input. CZM hosted public meetings in January to present the preliminary goals of the ResilientCoasts Plan and to solicit feedback, and then held additional public meetings in October to provide an update on the plan, present the draft Coastal Resilience Districts for public feedback, and receive input on the project’s approach. CZM also conducted a public survey in February to receive feedback on goals of the ResilientCoasts Plan to help shape how local and state action can support coastal community resilience to sea level rise, coastal storms, flooding, and erosion. A second survey was conducted in October to gather feedback on the draft Coastal Resilience Districts and opportunities and challenges for coastal resilience statewide. CZM also held office hours in the fall to discuss questions or concerns related to the ResilientCoasts Plan. For additional details and videos and presentations from the January and October meetings, see the Community Engagement section of the ResilientCoasts website.

Coastal Resilience Districts - The draft Coastal Resilience Districts—15 proposed areas that have common characteristics, natural resource areas, and coastal hazards to help facilitate regional projects and partnerships for resilience—were presented at the public meetings in October for feedback. The purpose of delineating these districts is to help facilitate regional projects and partnerships for resilience. A map viewer depicts the 15 proposed Coastal Resilience Districts.

StormSmart Coasts

Now under ResilientCoasts, CZM’s StormSmart Coasts Program provides information, strategies, and tools to help communities and people working and living on the coast to address the challenges of erosion, flooding, storms, sea level rise, and other climate change impacts. This program promotes effective management of coastal landforms, such as beaches and dunes.

Coastal Resilience Grant Awards - In October, CZM awarded $5.2 million in funding through the Coastal Resilience Grant Program to advance these 16 local and regional projects to reduce risks associated with coastal storms, flooding, erosion, and sea level rise, with partners committing over $700,000 in match:

  • Barnstable - $90,542 to finalize permits and complete the bidding process for a project to relocate the Sandy Neck Beach parking lot and gatehouse to a more landward location and restore dunes to reduce storm damage risk and preserve recreational access.
  • Brewster - $381,680 to continue a partnership with Dennis and Orleans to advance a regional shoreline management strategy for their shared 14.5-mile stretch of Cape Cod Bay coastline. The towns will also create an online public data portal and educational resource for shoreline management projects and techniques.
  • Falmouth - $153,466 to evaluate the viability of conceptual options for beach and dune nourishment and performance under storm conditions for a section of Surf Drive. The town will also continue a public outreach program that informs residents of flood risks and a phased management approach to provide resilience over the long term.
  • Hanover - $116,423 to conduct a planning study and develop conceptual designs to address flooding vulnerabilities to the Beal Water Treatment Plant, wellfield, and proposed PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) treatment facility.
  • Hingham - $287,928 to permit a comprehensive coastal flood protection strategy for Hingham Harbor to address storm damage and sea level rise. The project will also assess the reestablishment of the tide gate in the Home Meadows culvert for flood control.
  • Hull - $152,805 to advance the design of facility improvements to address flooding for its Department of Public Works and Municipal Light Plant. The project will also continue stakeholder engagement on potential building relocation to adjacent parcels.
  • Marblehead - $210,502 to perform a site-specific analysis of coastal flood risk of town-owned properties and infrastructure in the State Street Landing area, including the Harbormaster’s Office, commercial and recreational boating and fishing facilities, and a waterfront park. The project will engage the community on conceptual design plans to mitigate flooding and improve public access.
  • Marion - $85,000 to complete improvements at the Silvershell Pump Station to address coastal storm risks. The project includes the construction of a bypass connection and the assessment of additional flood resilience measures for the pump station, force main pipe, and standby generator.
  • Marshfield - $1,998,885 to continue construction of a beach nourishment project along Bay Avenue with the placement of approximately 36,100 cubic yards of sand, gravel, and cobble, enhancing flood and erosion protection for the publicly owned seawall and landward infrastructure.
  • Revere - $72,192 to evaluate a range of near-term emergency actions and conceptual long-term solutions to address flooding in the Beachmont neighborhood. This project will build on previous regional vulnerability assessments and directly engage with environmental justice populations in the Belle Isle Marsh area.
  • Salem - $419,346 to evaluate potential options to stabilize three sections of eroding shoreline around Winter Island Park while considering the archaeological and historical significance of the site. The project will continue efforts to manage the impacts of pedestrian access and improve community understanding of coastal storms and sea level rise.
  • Salem - $500,069 to develop a flood risk reduction strategy and preliminary designs for the Collins Cove Park neighborhood, building on previous studies that identified flooding risks to critical infrastructure and environmental justice populations.
  • The Nature Conservancy - $265,928 to collaborate with coastal municipalities and other partners to launch a coastwide peer learning network, develop a resource database, and host public engagement events to identify best practices and barriers to proactive, community-led managed retreat.
  • Wareham Land Trust - $85,000 to document the existing condition of North Water Street Beach and associated infrastructure, evaluate present and future vulnerabilities, and develop a suite of feasible alternatives to improve the long-term resilience of the site.
  • Westport - $174,138 to develop a Beach Management Plan for the town’s three barrier beaches. The project will assess existing conditions and shoreline change, develop best practice recommendations for reducing storm damage, and conduct public outreach to build support for management changes and long-term adaptation recommendations.
  • Yarmouth - $255,383 to advance design and permitting for improvements to Packet Landing Marina to reduce coastal flooding and sea level rise impacts, preserving public access.

For more information, see the press release along with some of the news coverage received:

Coastal Resilience Projects Completed - In 2024, 26 projects were completed with previous Coastal Resilience Grant awards (see the CZM Grant Viewer for details on funded projects).

  • Barnstable - Finalized plans to enhance the primary dune and relocate the parking lot landward at Sandy Neck Beach Park to reduce the risk of storm damage to infrastructure and preserve access to recreation.
  • Beverly - Assessed the vulnerability of Lynch Park to flooding and erosion and developed resilience strategies. The project evaluated potential impacts to the seawall and created conceptual designs to mitigate flooding, address the drainage of floodwaters, and protect public access and amenities.
  • Brewster, Dennis, and Orleans - Initiated the development of a comprehensive, science-based framework for managing the 14.5-mile shoreline between Rock Harbor in Orleans and Bass Hole in Dennis.
  • Chatham - Continued public outreach and developed permit applications for beach nourishment and temporary structures that redirect tidal currents to address shoreline erosion and shoaling near Stage Harbor and Morris Island.
  • Chatham, on behalf of the Pleasant Bay Alliance - Continued permitting and developed monitoring plans and construction documents to advance implementation of a living shoreline to protect Jackknife Beach. The project will protect and expand the fringing salt marsh adjacent to the public access area to build resilience to erosion and sea level rise.
  • Cohasset - Developed preliminary designs for protecting infrastructure from flooding in the James Brook watershed. Designs include roadway elevation, streetscaping, seawall repairs, and other approaches to protect roads and buildings.
  • Cohasset - Finalized design plans and permitting for wastewater system flood resilience. The project will seal sewer pipes and manholes to reduce flows during flooding and will elevate electrical equipment.
  • Duxbury - Constructed the first phase of the Bay Avenue and Gurnet Road beach restoration project using approximately 75,000 cubic yards of sand, gravel, and cobble. The project also conducted surveys of the site’s resources, facilitated contractor hiring in coordination with Marshfield, and continued public outreach.
  • Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. - Completed two years of monitoring of recently constructed cobble berms to increase understanding of the design and performance of these nature-based approaches to shoreline management. The project also continued to build support for nature-based approaches through public outreach initiatives.
  • Duxbury Beach Reservation, Inc. - Constructed a mixed gravel and sand berm to address erosion north and south of Powder Point Bridge, one of two access points to Duxbury Beach. Construction of the berm will address erosion.
  • Hingham - Assessed coastal flooding and developed preliminary designs for a shoreline resilience project for Hingham Harbor. The project will work in conjunction with planned Massachusetts Department of Transportation improvements along Route 3A to ensure flood protection.
  • House of Seven Gables Settlement Association - Prepared an adaptation plan that identifies short-, medium-, and long-term actions to improve the resilience of the campus and buildings to anticipated changes in groundwater elevation, precipitation, storm intensity, and sea level rise.
  • Hull - Evaluated plans to reduce flooding risk for the Department of Public Works facility and the Municipal Light Plant. Through a comprehensive approach, Hull selected projects to reduce the long-term sea level rise and storm damage vulnerability of these facilities.
  • Marblehead - Conducted public outreach, developed design plans, and completed permitting for infrastructure retrofits to reduce flooding impacts along the shoreline encompassing the Municipal Light Department and adjacent properties.
  • Marshfield - Constructed the first half of a beach nourishment project to address erosion and flooding south of Green Harbor. The project complements beach nourishment efforts in Duxbury and resulted in approximately 3,000 feet of restored shoreline across the two communities.
  • Mattapoisett - Finalized design plans and constructed 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 were accessed by Angelica Avenue, a single, low-lying road that is threatened by flooding from coastal storms and sea level rise.
  • New Bedford - Advanced environmental permitting and prepared final design plans 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.
  • Oak Bluffs - Conducted a flooding and sea level rise vulnerability analysis of key transportation routes to the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, the island’s only hospital.
  • Orleans - Completed preliminary designs for 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. Completed bidding and construction.
  • Salem - Assessed alternatives for long-term resilience improvements to infrastructure at Palmer Cove Park and completed long-term design plans and cost estimates. Implemented shorter-term adaptation measures to mitigate near-term coastal flooding and engaged the community on climate change and disaster preparedness.
  • Salem - Conducted community engagement, pedestrian traffic management, and shoreline erosion and invasive plant species assessments at Winter Island Park. The project will help preserve a valuable recreational and historical resource in the city.
  • Scituate - Prepared final design plans and contract documents and constructed 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 included public meetings to communicate project purpose, expectations, and updates.
  • Scituate - Placed an additional 26,000 cubic yards of sand and gravel on North Scituate Beach to extend the nourishment area. The nourished beach will help protect vulnerable public infrastructure and homes from coastal storm impacts.
  • Wellfleet - Developed a regional sand management program and public data portal for Eastern Cape Cod Bay in partnership with Eastham, Provincetown, and Truro. Finalized conceptual design strategies for four low-lying roads.
  • Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution - In partnership with the Town of Falmouth, Marine Biological Laboratory, and Northeast Fisheries Science Center, identified, designed and installed floodproofing measures for near-term critical flood entry points, evaluated the feasibility of a dune restoration project on Stoney Beach, and conducted public outreach to build support for infrastructure adaptations
  • Yarmouth - Created three conceptual designs for potential projects to increase the resilience of Packet Landing Marina from sea level rise and storm surge.

The House of the Seven Gables Recognized for Resilience Efforts - In September, Historic Salem, Inc., presented The House of the Seven Gables with a 2024 Preservation Award for their long-term plan to move vulnerable historic structures back from the shoreline. The Gables received Coastal Resilience Grant funding and technical assistance in 2022-2024 to develop the climate adaptation plan that includes short-term site improvements and decision points for long-term actions.

MVP Awards - Through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness (MVP) Program coastal communities continue to build resilience to all climate impacts, such as extreme temperatures, flooding, drought, and wildfires. In August, the MVP Program awarded $52.4 million in funding for climate resilience across Massachusetts. Over $10 million of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 grant awards are advancing coastal resilience through nine projects in 10 coastal communities. The three projects below have leveraged previous work under the Coastal Resilience Grant Program. For more information, see the press release.

  • Barnstable - $2,833,849 to relocate the gatehouse and parking lot at the Sandy Neck Beach facility to address erosion and flooding impacts. The project will involve community participation, curriculum development for third graders, and reduction of beach access barriers for environmental justice and priority populations.
  • Everett and Chelsea - $5,000,000 to continue efforts to promote flood resilience in the Island End River district. The project will construct a hybrid structural and nature-based coastal flood protection system consisting of a flood barrier and flood gates, a storm surge control facility, a resilient riverwalk, improvements to Island End Park, and enhancements to an existing salt marsh.
  • Salem - $466,380 to continue and expand the work of the Climate Resilience Leadership Council, a group of 11 community leaders from diverse sectors, to deepen the understanding of climate impacts in The Point neighborhood and support climate impact awareness and resilience among youth who are a part of The Point community. The project will build out and test a Climate Resilience Civics Curriculum for middle school students, Resilience “Yellow-Brick Road” Plan that includes activities and art events, and Resilience Creative Corps to make climate resilience more accessible and engaging for the community.

Climate Science Advisory Panel - EEA established a Climate Science Advisory Panel in 2024 to provide expertise on statewide climate science and future projections used to inform state and local climate adaptation planning and projects. The Panel is comprised of experts within Massachusetts and across the region who will advise the Massachusetts Office of Climate Science on the latest advances and applications in climate science related to hazards such as extreme heat, flooding, sea level rise, and health impacts. CZM supported focus groups on scenarios, uncertainty, projections, data products, and intersecting hazards. For more information, see the press release.

MyCoast Reporting - CZM’s Coastal Storm Damage Assessment Team (Storm Team) and volunteers reported coastal storm and King Tide impacts and beach changes throughout the year. In 2024, 240 new users signed up to use the MyCoast portal and inform storm response and coastal management decisions. Here are highlights of MyCoast reporting:

Updated State Building Code Improves Safety of Buildings in Coastal Flood Zones - The 10th Edition of the Massachusetts State Building Code was adopted and took effect in October. It includes several changes to improve the safety of new and substantially improved buildings in coastal flood zones based on evidence of structural damages during storm events. First, it adds standards for Coastal A Zones, which are coastal areas predicted to have 1.5- to 3-foot breaking waves in a 1% chance coastal storm. It requires, in part, that new, substantially improved, or substantially damaged buildings in Coastal A Zones be built on open pilings, above the 1% chance flood elevation, consistent with the International Building Codes. It also requires higher freeboard, which is the elevation of buildings above the predicted 1% chance flood elevation to allow for the uncertainties of mapping as well as increasing precipitation and sea level rise. The freeboard requirements for all A and V flood zones have been raised one foot in the 10th Edition Code. The 10th Edition of the Massachusetts Building Code will go into full effect on July 1, 2025. See the Department of Licensure 10th Edition web page for more on the new standards.

StormSmart Coasts Outreach - Throughout 2024, CZM’s StormSmart Coasts program provided local officials and other partners with 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:

  • MVP Winter Webinar - In February, CZM supported an MVP webinar (PDF, 8 MB) on How to Effectively Use ResilientMass Tools. The webinar introduced the new Office of Climate Science and provided an overview of key tools including the Climate Resilience Design Standards Tool, the Massachusetts Coast Flood Risk Model and viewers, interactive tools on the ResilientMass Maps and Data Center, and a coastal resilience case study from the Town of Hull.
  •  Coastal Resilience Grants Webinar - In March, CZM hosted an informational webinar on the Coastal Resilience Grant Program for eligible applicants. The webinar covered program goals, requirements, eligibility, evaluation criteria, and successful projects.
  • Climate Adaptation Forum - CZM participated in a forum in March on Climate Adaptation at the Regional Scale hosted by the Environmental Business Council and University of Massachusetts (UMass) Boston Sustainable Solutions Lab. CZM provided an overview of the development of the ResilientCoasts strategy.
  • MACC Annual Conference - CZM and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) conducted the workshop (PDF, 234 KB), Developed Coastal Dune and Barrier Beach Resource Delineations, Functions, and Performance Standards, at the Massachusetts Association of Conservation Commissions (MACC) annual conference in March.
  • Salisbury Workshop - Also in March, CZM and MassDEP conducted a workshop for the Salisbury Conservation Commission and the public regarding the storm damage protection and flood control functions of developed barrier beaches.
  • Cobble Berm Outreach - In the spring, CZM, the Stone Living Lab, and Woods Hole Group conducted outreach on cobble berms. Field courses in Duxbury and Hull and a virtual permitting workshop were offered to enhance local understanding of cobble berms as a coastal resilience strategy.
  • Flood Zones Workshop - In September, CZM and MassDEP conducted a workshop hosted by MACC on how to locate Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood zones within Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage (LSCSF), a coastal resource area protected under the Massachusetts Wetlands Protection Act. Examples were provided on how to find the Limit of Moderate Wave Action, Moderate Wave Action Area, Minimal Wave Action Area, and other FEMA flood zones.
  • Preserving History Conference - CZM attended the 4th annual Preservation in a Changing Climate Conference in September, which focused on mitigation and adaptation strategies that address the impacts of climate on historic buildings, landscapes, and neighborhoods. CZM participated in a panel discussion on coastal resilience and adaptation planning. CZM also moderated a session on The House of the Seven Gables resilience study and adaptation plan.
  • Taunton River Watershed Event - Also in September, CZM participated in a panel discussion on regional climate change impacts hosted by the Taunton River Watershed Alliance. CZM highlighted coastal hazards data and tools as well as Coastal Resilience Grants.
  • massFM Annual Conference - In October, CZM participated in the 5th annual conference of the Massachusetts Association for Floodplain Management (massFM). CZM provided three presentations on How to Identify Zones for Building Code and LSCSF from FEMA Maps, ResilientCoasts: Developing a Comprehensive and Equitable Statewide Framework for Coastal Resilience, and CZM Coastal Resilience Grant Program: Ten Years of Advancing Local and Regional Coastal Resilience.
  • Mashpee Conservation Commission Meeting - In November, CZM gave a presentation at the Mashpee Conservation Commission meeting regarding the delineation of FEMA flood zones and functions of the coastal floodplain.
  • Cape Cod and Islands Conservation Network - In December, CZM and MassDEP gave a presentation on coastal floodplain functions and how to locate FEMA flood zones within LSCSF.

Regional Living Shorelines Workshop - Through the Northeast Regional Ocean Council (NROC), CZM supported a regional workshop in the fall on living shorelines. The workshop was conducted in partnership with The Nature Conservancy with the support of the Consensus Building Institute to deepen understanding of living shoreline implementation and monitoring across New England. For more information, see the NROC Coastal Hazards Resilience Committee website and Work Plan.

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality

CZM’s Coastal Habitat and Water Quality (CHWQ) Program works to develop data tools and support research to better understand coastal habitats and to protect and restore these valuable resources, in addition to keeping Massachusetts coastal and ocean waters clean and healthy. The CHWQ program also supports monitoring and early detection of marine introduced species through the Marine Invasive Species Program.

Federal Funds for Coastal Habitat Restoration and Climate Change Resilience - In April, CZM was awarded $5 million in federal grant funding for coastal wetland restoration projects in Yarmouth and Bourne through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Coastal Zone Management Habitat Protection and Restoration Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) Competition. Each project will support the restoration of retired cranberry bogs, reconnect tidal hydrology to the site, and support future areas of salt marsh migration, which is the movement of marshes into suitable adjacent lands or wetlands with sea level rise. See the press release, and for additional press coverage, see Feds award $5 million to restore wetlands at 2 defunct Cape Cod cranberry bogs from WBUR and Bourne receives federal funds for wetlands restoration from The Enterprise. This funding builds on two additional grants awarded to CZM in 2023 through the same federal grant competition, which included nearly $4 million to support two coastal habitat restoration projects in Manchester-by-the-Sea and Truro.

2024 Awarded Projects

  • Yarmouth - The Upper Bass River Coastal Habitat Restoration Project was awarded $4.7 million to restore 57 acres of coastal wetland at retired cranberry bogs, remove structures that restrict flow, and replace a concrete fishway with a natural channel. Currently, multiple flow control structures—including a dam, an undersized culvert, and berms—limit flow of water and sediment, restrict passage of aquatic species, and pose a flood hazard to the surrounding community. This project will restore flow to the system by constructing a bridge to replace a partially collapsed culvert at Weir Road, along with removing relic flow-control structures. The reconnection of flow, restoration of the retired cranberry bog, and naturalization of the river channel will improve water quality and wildlife passage for aquatic species. Improved flow and function of the wetland will also reduce risk of flooding to adjacent properties, infrastructure, and roadways. The project builds on assessment and design work funded by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Southeast New England Program Grant and will contribute to a larger vision for comprehensive restoration of over 160 acres of the Bass River ecosystem. Partners include CZM, Town of Yarmouth, Friends of Bass River, and Division of Ecological Restoration (DER).
  • Bourne - The Puritan Bog Coastal Wetland Restoration Project was awarded $338,000 to complete modeling, design, and permitting to restore 15 acres of coastal wetland at a retired cranberry bog and reestablish tidal exchange to the site. Alterations of the wetland to support cranberry farming cut off natural tidal flow and promoted the growth of invasive reeds. Restoration of tidal exchange and wetland functioning will reestablish native salt marsh vegetation, support a rich diversity of plant and animal species, and provide refuge for juvenile fish and other aquatic species. The restoration also has the potential to support movement of the marsh to higher elevations inland of the wetland as sea levels rise. By removing flow control structures in the retired bog, the project will also reduce flooding hazards to the surrounding community and help prevent road failure due to flooding. The project has been a restoration priority in the region for nearly two decades, identified by groups such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Resources Conservation Service, Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, Association to Preserve Cape Cod, DER, Buzzards Bay Coalition, and Town of Bourne. Partners include CZM, Buzzards Bay Coalition, and the Town of Bourne.

Ongoing Projects

  • Manchester-by-the-Sea - The Sawmill Brook Restoration Project aims to restore 1,534 linear feet of stream connectivity and improve resilience for critical infrastructure. In 2024, the project team continued to secure final permits to prepare for bidding and construction. Reconstruction of the Central Street Bridge and removal of a tide gate (to be completed with leveraged funding) will restore tidal flow between Sawmill Brook and Central Pond and enhance fish passage. One acre of salt marsh will be restored with improved tidal flow and targeted plantings of suitable plant species. Increasing the culvert span and removal of the tide gate will mitigate recurring flooding impacts, and stabilization of eroding streambanks will provide additional resilience benefits for critical infrastructure. Partners include CZM, Town of Manchester, and DER.
  • Truro - The Pamet River Restoration Project will advance modeling, design, and permitting to restore tidal flow at five locations within the Pamet River system. In 2024, the project team advanced modeling, alternatives analyses, and design objectives for several of the crossings. This project will develop comprehensive, watershed-scale actions to restore close to 120 acres of highly productive salt marsh and estuarine habitat, reconnect more than six miles of stream, improve tidal flushing for water quality improvements, mitigate the impacts of overwash events, and provide resilience benefits for roads and residential properties. Partners include CZM, Town of Truro, and DER.

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grant Awards - In August, CZM announced $628,702 in Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants to support efforts to address polluted stormwater runoff to protect coastal water quality and habitat, develop comprehensive coastal habitat restoration plans, and implement priority habitat restoration actions. 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. The funded projects will help keep beaches and shellfish harvesting areas open and advance coastal habitat restoration planning. The following five projects, matched by $115,978 from municipal and nonprofit sources, received grants:

  • Ipswich River Watershed Association - $137,053 to develop a comprehensive habitat restoration plan to improve aquatic habitat and riverine conditions in the Ipswich River. The river, which is crucial habitat for diadromous fish species, has become degraded due to low dissolved oxygen levels, high bacteria levels, and barriers to flow. This project will assess current habitat conditions and develop strategies and recommendations to improve diadromous fish habitat in the river.
  • Needham - $125,425 to advance assessment and designs for green stormwater infrastructure along Alder Brook, a tributary of the Charles River. The project will reduce phosphorous inputs to the brook by capturing and treating stormwater before reaching the waterbody. The town will work in partnership with the Charles River Watershed Association to advance the project.
  • Rehoboth - $87,500 to quantify nutrient levels in runoff, identify locations for green stormwater infrastructure, update stormwater and zoning bylaws to reduce stormwater impacts, host green stormwater infrastructure maintenance trainings to build capacity in the municipality, and conduct outreach with residents and local farmers on stormwater management. This project holistically targets water quality improvements in the Palmer River Watershed.
  • Saugus River Watershed Council - $56,700 to assess stormwater runoff volume and pollutant levels from municipal properties in the Saugus River watershed. Through GIS analyses and on-site field assessments, the Council will assess existing conditions, model climate scenarios, and investigate levels of impact to the Saugus River watershed. The data collected will inform site selection and initial designs for green stormwater infrastructure to address stormwater impacts in the region.
  • Wildlands Trust - $48,685 to complete a habitat restoration plan in the Plymouth, Duxbury, and Kingston (PDK) Bay Area. Focusing on the 30 miles of coastline and numerous tributaries to the bay, the project will assess existing data, management plans, and community knowledge to identify opportunities to protect coastal habitat. Formation of the PDK Bay Coalition as part of the project will bring together local leaders and experts to lead plan development, coordinate municipal efforts, and share resources.

For additional details, see the press release and Rehoboth awarded $87,500 state grant for water quality improvements from The Sun Chronicle.

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Project Updates - These eight projects were completed with funding from FY 2023 and FY 2024, and four more will continue into FY 2025. Please see the CZM Grant Viewer for details on projects funded by all CZM grant programs from 2014 to present.

Completed Projects

  • Association to Preserve Cape Cod - Completed green stormwater infrastructure designs at three public boat ramp sites across Cape Cod. This Association to Preserve Cape Cod (APCC) project was a continuation of initial work completed for assessment and infrastructure design to address pollution in stormwater runoff at public boat ramps in collaboration with regional partners.
  • Charles River Watershed Association - Developed a comprehensive restoration plan to identify and prioritize restoration activities in the Cheesecake Brook subwatershed to improve water quality and habitat critical for diadromous fish species. Additionally, developed green stormwater infrastructure designs for a subsurface infiltration system and bioretention Best Management Practices (BMPs) at Albermarle Field to treat stormwater runoff into Cheesecake Brook, a tributary of the Charles River, for nutrients and bacteria.
  • Fairhaven - Constructed bioretention basins at Jerusalem Road to trap stormwater runoff and filter out nutrients and bacteria currently reaching outer New Bedford Harbor. This green stormwater infrastructure will improve water quality in the harbor, supporting shellfish harvesting opportunities.
  • Falmouth - Developed a comprehensive habitat restoration plan for the Fresh River system and collected data to identify and inform priority restoration activities, which include stormwater management opportunities, culvert modifications, and dredging.
  • Falmouth - Completed green stormwater infrastructure designs to treat runoff from Thomas B. Landers Road into the Coonamessett River, which is a critical diadromous fish run and the site of several state-funded restoration efforts. The designed BMPs, which include additional catch basins and infiltration basins, will treat stormwater runoff that currently flows untreated directly into the river for nutrients and bacteria.
  • Kingston - In partnership with Wildlands Trust, conducted an advanced analysis of land parcels for acquisition or conservation restrictions to facilitate marsh migration. The town conducted a desktop assessment to inventory parcels, identify land ownership, and assess ecological value, as well as an assessment of the legal requirements for conservation restrictions and fee simple purchase of parcels.
  • Mattapoisett Land Trust - Completed a comprehensive habitat restoration plan for the tidal marshes west of Mattapoisett Neck Road through the collection of aerial imagery, natural resource delineation, and modeling to project impacts of climate change to coastal habitat. These efforts informed the identification and prioritization of restoration actions in the area, culminating in the development of technical plans for priority restoration actions such as a culvert replacement.
  • Salem Sound Coastwatch - Conducted a case study of the North River rain gardens in Salem through the development of an executive summary, story map, and informational videos, provided in both English and Spanish. See the Salem Sound Coastwatch (SSC) Rain Gardens web page for details and links to the videos. These products document the successes and lessons learned from the project and provide capacity building, education, and outreach opportunities focused on green stormwater infrastructure in an urban environment.

Ongoing Projects

  • Association to Preserve Cape Cod - Advancing final designs, permitting, and construction for green stormwater infrastructure to treat for nutrients and bacteria at multiple public boat ramp sites. Final designs were completed for four project sites: Scargo Lake Landing and Dr. Lords Common Landing in Dennis, Follins Pond in Yarmouth, and Mashpee-Wakeby Pond in Mashpee. With project partners, APCC will complete construction at Dr. Lord’s Common Landing and Scargo Lake Landing in Dennis.
  • North and South Rivers Watershed Association - Advancing work on a comprehensive habitat restoration plan for tidal marshes across the South Shore. Through a collaboration with the Cohasset Center for Student Coastal Research, students have contributed to field and desktop analyses being conducted by North and South Rivers Watershed Association (NSRWA) to develop a prioritized ranking of marsh units for restoration action (see Student Story Map on Scituate Salt Marshes on the NSRWA website).
  • Swansea - Continuing to conduct a stormwater assessment for the Cole’s River in the adjacent Compton’s Corner area in Swansea. This assessment will inform conceptual designs for priority green stormwater infrastructure retrofits. Additionally, the town hosted a stormwater training series for municipal staff to increase capacity for the town to address stormwater challenges.
  • Yarmouth - Continuing to advance designs, permitting, and installation of priority BMPs to treat stormwater runoff for nutrients and bacteria entering coastal waterbodies. Designs for six project sites were completed with two being prioritized for final designs. Construction and bidding are expected to occur this winter.

Phase I of Passive Sediment Augmentation Project - Sediment is a necessary component of ecological processes that allow salt marshes to build elevation and keep pace with sea level rise. CZM partnered with the Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve and contracted with WSP USA Solutions, Inc., along with Sustainable Coastal Solutions, Inc., and Geyer & Ralston Consulting, to complete an initial feasibility assessment of Passive Sediment Augmentation (PSA) as an approach to conserve sediments and protect salt marsh ecosystems. The PSA method is a form of beneficial reuse where dredged sediments of suitable composition are redistributed to the marsh by wind or tidal-driven action from a nearshore placement site. Phase I of the project tested the feasibility of this concept using a modeled approach and laid the groundwork for continued exploration of the technique as a potential option for beneficial reuse of sediments in the future to support protection and restoration of salt marsh habitat. See the final report for Phase I, Passive Sediment Augmentation (PSA) - Phase I: Feasibility Study, Modeling, and Assessment Waquoit Bay (Falmouth and Mashpee), Massachusetts (PDF, 11 MB). Phase II of the project is underway. For details, contact Adrienne Pappal at adrienne.pappal@mass.gov or Sean Duffey at sean.duffey@mass.gov.

Marine Species Rapid Assessment Survey - In August, CZM staff attended the 2024 southern New England and New York Rapid Assessment Survey (RAS) of native and invasive marine species. A team of scientific experts visited marinas from Rhode Island to New York to identify all invertebrates and algae found on floating docks and piers. Every three to five years since 2000, a RAS has been conducted to detect new species introductions, identify range shifts or expansions of invasive species, and understand native species distributions. Identifying new introductions and northward range expansions during this RAS allows coastal managers in Massachusetts to anticipate which species may expand their range to state waters to help anticipate potential impacts of emerging invasive species, spread awareness, and mobilize monitoring networks. A report on the findings of the 2024 RAS is currently in production (see Rapid Assessment Survey of Marine Bioinvasions of Southern New England and New York, USA, with an Overview of New Records and Range Expansions (2019) for previous results). For more information on the Rapid Assessment Surveys conducted across New England, including reports for the northern New England surveys, see the CZM website. A report on the 2023 Rapid Assessment Survey from Maine to Massachusetts is in development.

Volunteer Monitoring of Marine Invasive Species - Every summer since 2006, a network of volunteer monitoring groups, convened by CZM, have hunted for 18 common marine invasive species at docks and rocky shorelines along the New England coast as part of the Marine Invasive Monitoring and Information Collaborative (MIMIC). This year, MIMIC partners successfully monitored dozens of sites from New Brunswick, Canada, to Newport, Rhode Island. This is the first year that MIMIC monitoring has expanded into Canada and the first time in over 10 years that Rhode Island sites have been sampled. The nearly 20 MIMIC groups that participated in 2024 engaged over 170 volunteers. See the MIMIC iNaturalist Project Page to view species monitored, the MIMIC Story Map for monitoring data, and CZM’s Marine Invasive Species Program website for more information on MIMIC.

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Program Outreach and Technical Assistance - Throughout 2024, CZM provided academic groups, coastal practitioners, municipal staff, and other partners information on coastal habitat vulnerability and resilience, wetlands, coastal water quality, marine invasive species monitoring, and volunteer science network coordination at a variety of events, including:

  • Underwater in Salem Sound: Marine Invaders on the Move - In January, CZM and Salem Sound Coastwatch gave a joint presentation as part of Abbot Public Library’s “Underwater in Salem Sound” lecture series in Marblehead. The presentation recounted marine introduced species trends in the region, pulling from more than 20 years of data collected through CZM’s Rapid Assessment Surveys and MIMIC. Visit SSC’s Vimeo account to watch the presentation.
  • Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force Meeting - In May, CZM presented with Dr. James Carlton (Professor Emeritus at Williams College) on the results of the 2023 northern New England Rapid Assessment survey and plans for the 2024 southern New England and New York RAS. Visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife website for meeting minutes, including a summary of CZM’s presentation.
  • Additional Marine Invasive Species Presentations - CZM also presented on the 2023 RAS results at the Northeast Aquatic Nuisance Species (NEANS) Panel March working group meeting, New Hampshire Legislature Exotic Aquatic Weeds and Species Committee May meeting, NEANS Panel November meeting, and Massachusetts Water Resource Committee November meeting.
  • MassDEP Interagency Wetlands Workgroup - CZM provides technical assistance to this workgroup, including presentations on a wide variety of topics, to outline the latest science and practice on coastal wetlands restoration and climate resilience efforts. For more information, see the Interagency Coastal Wetlands Climate Resilience Workgroup web page.
  • Salt Marsh Working Group - CZM continues to co-lead the Massachusetts Ecosystem Network Salt Marsh Working Group with UMass Amherst Gloucester Marine Station. Goals of the group are to facilitate coordinated efforts to assess and monitor salt marshes; inform statewide and regional strategies for the prioritization, conservation, and restoration of salt marshes; share synthesized science and knowledge of climate impacts on salt marsh and the vulnerability of these systems to climate stressors; inform best practices for salt marsh climate adaptation efforts; and design collaborative funding approaches to support research.
  • Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants Outreach - In June, CZM presented on funding opportunities for a session focused on watershed plans at the 2024 Cape Cod Coastal Conference. CZM shared information about the Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants and connected with Cape Cod municipal towns and organizations interested in funding green stormwater infrastructure and habitat restoration planning projects.

Other Water Quality Activities - CZM also worked on the following coastal water quality activities in 2024:

  • Nitrogen Management - CZM worked with the Town of Falmouth, MassDEP, Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), and the town’s contractors to design and implement baseline benthic and eelgrass monitoring to support the town’s proposed future treated wastewater outfall to Vineyard Sound. CZM also provided feedback on a hydrodynamic model projecting the likely distribution and dilution of nutrients and other pollutants from the proposed outfall.
  • 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 PFAS, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, and microplastics and whether they should be included in the draft National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for the MWRA Deer Island Treatment Plant. CZM also continued discussions with MassDEP, EPA, and the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Partnership (MassBays) on developing a framework for ocean outfall monitoring across all of Massachusetts and Cape Cod Bays.
  • Water Quality Monitoring - CZM worked with MassBays to identify five coastal locations for long-term water quality monitoring stations. The first station was established on the Beverly Pier on the Danvers River with assistance from the U.S. Geological Survey. The station will be outfitted with sensors that will continuously collect data on core parameters: dissolved oxygen, temperature, salinity, conductivity, turbidity, chlorophyll, pH, partial pressure of carbon dioxide (CO2), and pressure (water depth). The continuous data will be augmented with discrete water samples for nutrient concentration determination. For more information, contact CZM Coastal and Marine Scientist, Todd Callaghan, at todd.callaghan@mass.gov.

Ocean Management

On behalf of EEA, CZM serves as the lead state agency for ocean planning through the Ocean Management Program—working with other state agencies and regional and federal partners to balance current and new uses of ocean waters while protecting ocean habitats and promoting sustainable economic development.

Interagency Offshore Wind Council - CZM participated in and had a seat on the steering committee of the Interagency Offshore Wind Council, which included representatives from the Department of Energy Resources, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Marine Fisheries and Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, MassDEP, Department of Public Utilities, Executive Office of Economic Development, Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development, and Executive Office of Education.

Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Planning - In the lead-up to the Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Lease Auction that took place in October (see Biden-Harris Administration Holds First Offshore Wind Lease Sale in the Gulf of Maine), CZM participated with state and federal partners to represent Massachusetts interests and share information and feedback from stakeholders through the Gulf of Maine Task Force. This auction was the culmination of several years of planning by the Task Force and its members. CZM provided comments to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) on its Proposed Sale Notice for the auction, asking BOEM to balance protection of existing uses and resources while also proceeding with the planned auction in the Gulf of Maine—given that renewable energy sited in this area will be crucial to meeting Massachusetts legislatively mandated offshore wind needs. CZM also commented on the environmental review of leasing and site assessment activities resulting from the auction (see Offshore Wind Project Review below) and issued a federal consistency concurrence for the leasing and site assessment activities. See Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Planning on CZM’s Role in Offshore Wind web page for details and links to comment letters.

Stakeholder Engagement on Offshore Wind - To support the sustainable development of offshore wind energy, CZM continued to lead stakeholder engagement groups related to fisheries and habitat topics, hosting four meetings each of the Habitat Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy and Fisheries Working Group on Offshore Wind Energy, plus a joint meeting of the two working groups to discuss transmission. For the first time since 2019, some of these meetings were in person with one Habitat Working Group meeting held at CZM’s offices in Boston and one Fisheries Working Group meeting held in New Bedford and another in Gloucester to make the meetings accessible to as many fishing communities as possible. All other meetings remained virtual, which increases access for all groups. At these meetings, offshore wind developers, fishing industry representatives, researchers, and environmental advocates provided updates on the latest surveys, projects, research initiatives, and findings for discussion. Input received from the groups informed current and ongoing project planning, review, and policy positions. To assist in communicating offshore wind information to the working groups and the public, CZM continued to expand the CZM’s Role in Offshore Wind page with a new section on science-backed resources. CZM also continued to maintain the public Status of Offshore Wind Lease Development in the Northeast - Online Viewer to track offshore wind development off of Massachusetts for stakeholders and expanded the geographic range of the viewer to encompass the new Gulf of Maine leases and the New York Bight area leases.

New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Working Groups - CZM continued to participate as a member of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority Environmental Technical Working Group (E-TWG), which promotes responsible offshore wind development, science, and policy for New York and the broader region with a focus on wildlife and habitat issues. In July, CZM traveled to Long Island for the biannual State of the Science Workshop, a symposium co-hosted by the E-TWG and the Fisheries Technical Working Group (F-TWG). In October, CZM also gave a presentation to the F-TWG regarding CZM’s framework for guidance on boulder relocation.

Offshore Wind Policy Guidance - In response to stakeholder concerns, CZM led the development of policy initiatives relating to offshore wind, producing three documents for CZM’s new Offshore Wind Publications web page. To address requests to provide guidance to offshore wind developers on issues that should be prioritized in offshore wind projects and proposals, CZM worked with state agencies and non-government organizations through the Habitat Working Group for Offshore Wind to develop best practices documents with specific suggestions to avoid, minimize, and mitigate impacts to wildlife species and habitats and guidelines for monitoring and research connected to offshore wind impact mitigation. Due to concerns about seabed disturbance related to cable-laying, particularly to the movement of large boulders, CZM worked with state and federal agencies and the Fisheries Working Group for Offshore Wind to develop a framework for moving boulders in a manner that would minimize harm to seafloor habitats and minimize the risk of snags for mobile-gear fisherman with improved communication of final boulder positions.

Offshore Wind Project Review - In 2024, CZM reviewed and provided comments on several offshore wind projects through state and federal regulatory processes. CZM also worked with DMF to incorporate financial compensation measures into federal consistency determinations to offset impacts to Massachusetts fishers affected by the SouthCoast Wind project. In addition, CZM provided comments on the supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) for an amendment to the Beacon Wind Site Assessment Plan. CZM also commented on the NOI to prepare, and subsequent draft of, the EA for offshore wind leasing in the Gulf of Maine.

Ocean Advisory Commission and Ocean Science Advisory Council - CZM organized and hosted a joint meeting of the Ocean Advisory Commission (OAC) and Ocean Science Advisory Council (SAC) in January 2024 to provide these groups with updates on the resource management priorities covered by the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan, including development in state ocean waters that involves cables, pipelines, renewable energy infrastructure, offshore sand mining, and aquaculture. The OAC and SAC were also informed about progress made by state agencies and others in addressing science priorities identified in the ocean plan and about topics that could be prioritized in the future. The OAC, SAC, and ocean plan were created under the Oceans Act of 2008, which requires a review of the ocean plan every five years. Review of the 2021 ocean plan will begin in 2025.

Northeast Regional Ocean Council - CZM had lead roles on the Ocean Planning, Habitat and Coastal Ocean Mapping, and Coastal Hazard Resilience executive committees of the Northeast Regional Ocean Council, the 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 ocean and coastal resources. On the Ocean Planning Committee, CZM helped create a new committee on energy transmission to allow for coordination among state and federal agencies as offshore wind energy connects to shoreside points of interconnection. CZM also presented on “lessons learned” in transmission permitting for the fall NROC meeting. On the Habitat and Coastal Ocean Mapping Subcommittee, CZM led an updated seafloor mapping prioritization effort across six states, eight federal agencies, and three non-governmental organizations. On the Coastal Hazards Resilience Committee, CZM continued to advocate for coupled flooding and inundation modeling and assisted in the siting and implementation of strategically placed water level sensors throughout the region.

Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind - CZM, representing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts along with MassCEC, continued its participation in the State Sector Caucus and on the Marine Mammals, Birds and Bats, and Habitat & Ecosystems subcommittees of the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative for Offshore Wind (RWSC), and this year, CZM also joined the newly formed Data Governance subcommittee. CZM has been working with RWSC to incorporate new data (e.g., moved boulders, seafloor mapping surveys) and to develop standardized protocols for offshore wind developers to share data with RWSC and the Northeast Ocean Data Portal.

Gulf of Maine Council on the Marine Environment - The Council was established in 1989 by the governments of Maine, Massachusetts, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, and Nova Scotia and works to provide an international forum for promoting a sustainable Gulf of Maine ecosystem. In June, the 2024 Gulf of Maine Council Awards were presented in Buzzards Bay, and three award winners from Massachusetts were honored for their exceptional work to protect the health and sustainability of the Gulf of Maine watershed. Former CZM Director Lisa Berry Engler received the Susan Snow-Cotter Leadership Award for outstanding leadership as a coastal management professional. Seabird researcher Kevin Powers received the Longard Volunteer Award for outstanding volunteer efforts to protect and conserve natural resources. Pam DiBona from the MassBays National Estuary Partnership and Laura Ludwig Director of the Marine Debris and Plastics Program at the Center for Coastal Studies both received Visionary Awards. And Ivy Mlsna from EPA received the Distinguished Service Award.

Mapping and Data Management and Seafloor and Habitat Mapping

The primary goals of the Mapping and Data Management Program are to support CZM programs and policies with data creation, analysis, and map making; ensure that CZM data are properly developed, maintained, and archived; and share data and maps with other agencies and the public. And through the Seafloor and Habitat Mapping Program, CZM collects data and develops maps showing the distribution and diversity of seafloor habitats to better understand and help protect these resources to ensure that development projects in Massachusetts ocean waters avoid and minimize potential impacts.

Project of Special Merit to Assess Coastal Cultural Resource Vulnerability - CZM and the Massachusetts Board of Underwater Archaeological Resources received funding from the NOAA Project of Special Merit grant program in late 2023 to conduct a statewide assessment of the vulnerability of coastal cultural resources including shipwrecks and historic and precontact artifacts to anticipated climate change-related sea level rise and coastal hazards, notably storms and associated flooding that can expose and often damage or destroy these cultural resources. The 18-month project brings multiple partners together to aggregate existing coastal cultural resources, environmental, and ethnohistorical data to identify the most vulnerable areas along the Massachusetts coast. CZM’s GIS staff have created the resource data, developed an analysis methodology, and begun to publish draft maps for evaluation by an expert review panel. Results from the study will provide federal, state, municipal, and tribal resource managers with the first detailed information to support informed decision-making about the prioritization of adaptive management options for coastal areas as part of an overall proactive coastal management strategy.

Support for Other CZM Programs - CZM requires sound data management and effective mapping to fulfill its mission, and in 2024, the Mapping and Data Management Program provided the following support to other CZM programs:

  • Coastal Resilience Districts - As part of the ResilientCoasts initiative, the team supported the development, analysis, and mapping of Coastal Resilience Districts—areas along the Massachusetts coastline that are currently experiencing or are expected to experience coastal flooding and erosion. These districts are delineated to group together areas that share common characteristics such as geomorphology, natural and built infrastructure, population and development characteristics, and coastal risks. The goal is to help facilitate district-scale coordination on coastal resilience, identify opportunities for integrated management, and scale projects and strategies for greater impact and efficiency. See the draft Coastal Resilience Districts.
  • Wind Energy Siting - The team worked with CZM’s Ocean Management Program staff to better understand the seabed in Massachusetts coastal waters, examine possible cable pathways from wind farms to shore, and keep apprised of changes to leases. See the Status of Offshore Wind Lease Development in the Northeast - Online Viewer.
  • Coastal Hazards - CZM’s Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flooding Viewer was developed for the StormSmart Coasts Program to support the assessment of coastal flooding vulnerability for community facilities and infrastructure. The viewer—recently updated to include the latest NOAA Sea Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes (SLOSH) model data, a worst-case hurricane surge from the NOAA National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center—includes interactive maps of flooding associated with static sea level rise scenarios from NOAA, dynamic future storm surge from Woods Hole Group, current worst-case hurricane surge from the NOAA National Weather Service’s National Hurricane Center, and areas within FEMA coastal flood zones.
  • Grants - Information about the projects funded through CZM grant programs—including the Coastal Resilience, Coastal Habitat and Water Quality, and Coastal Pollutant Remediation grants—can be accessed with the CZM Grants Viewer. Designed to allow users to explore grants awarded from 2014 to present, this web map is continually updated and allows grants to be filtered by multiple criteria including spatial extent, title or keyword, grantee, grant program, category, year, town, CZM region, watershed, and grantee type.

Port and Harbor Planning

The primary goals of CZM’s Port and Harbor Planning Program are to help ensure that waterfront areas in the Commonwealth grow in a safe, environmentally sound, and economically prosperous manner—balancing potentially competing uses.

Designated Port Area Assessment - To promote and protect water-dependent industrial uses, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts has established 10 Designated Port Areas (DPAs). These DPAs have the necessary physical and operational features needed to support businesses that require close proximity to coastal waters—such as commercial fishing, shipping, offshore wind energy facilities, and other vessel-related activities associated with water-borne commerce—as well as to support manufacturing, processing, and production activities that require marine transportation or the withdrawal or discharge of large volumes of water. CZM supports planning to promote maritime development and is responsible for establishing, mapping, and reviewing DPA boundaries and works with MassDEP to implement DPA policy goals and objectives. CZM is currently conducting an assessment of the DPA program. The goal is to determine whether the program is functioning effectively to support water-dependent industrial use and if improvements could be made to better meet this goal while addressing climate change resilience and environmental justice concerns.

Local Planning Efforts - Several communities continued to work on harbor planning in 2024, as summarized by region below. For more information about CZM’s harbor planning efforts, contact the CZM Regional Coordinators.

  • North Shore - CZM continued to work with the City of Gloucester on its planning for renewal and amendment of the 2014 Gloucester Harbor Municipal Harbor Plan (MHP) and DPA Master Plan. CZM’s Notice to Proceed for the plan was issued to the city in November 2021. The city plans to submit the renewal and amendment document to CZM and the EEA Secretary for approval in early 2025.
  • South Coastal - CZM worked with New Bedford and Fairhaven to extend the joint New Bedford/Fairhaven state-approved MHP. CZM continued to take part in the State Enhanced Remedy Committee overseeing its Phase V Dredging Project in New Bedford Harbor.

Project Review

By ensuring consistency with state coastal program policies and management principles, CZM’s review under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) and federal consistency ensures that proposed projects are designed and constructed in a manner that balances development with the protection of coastal and marine resources.

  • MEPA Review - CZM reviewed more than 90 projects submitted to the MEPA office in 2024, providing comments to better ensure that proposed projects protect coastal resources and water-dependent commercial enterprises.
  • Federal Consistency Review - In addition to MEPA 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. CZM issued more than 197 federal consistency review decisions in 2024.

Communications and Publications

CZM’s Communications Program supports the other CZM programs in developing publications and web materials, manages the CZM website and the COASTSWEEP beach cleanup, maintains CZM social media accounts, and provides press support for the agency. Highlights and accomplishments not fully covered in other program areas are included below.

New Guidance for Planting a Meadow Buffer Near a Salt Marsh - CZM’s Coastal Landscaping website now includes new pages on planting a meadow buffer near a salt marsh to help control erosion, prevent stormwater pollution, enhance wildlife habitat and beauty, and create a lower-maintenance yard—while still allowing the salt marsh to respond to rising sea levels. Landscaping Near a Salt Marsh: Planting a Meadow Buffer provides information and tips for replacing lawn next to a salt marsh with meadow plantings, and the Profile of a Meadow Buffer to Salt Marsh illustrates this landscaping approach. The Sample Landscape Plan for a Meadow Buffer to a Salt Marsh includes a detailed landscape plan and illustration, a plant key, and tips, and the Salt Marsh Buffer Plant List specifies additional recommended species with links to photographs and descriptions. CZM Communications Program staff, in collaboration with Goldthwait Reservation, Inc., has put the plan into action at a demonstration site adjacent to Goldthwait Marsh in Marblehead, planting 350 plugs of native grasses and perennials and a dozen shrubs. The area is currently being maintained and monitored to serve as an example of what can successfully be planted in the buffer to help protect salt marshes.

New CZ-Tip on Potential Problems of Christmas Trees for Erosion Control and Alternative Approaches - The newly released CZ-Tip - Naughty or Nice? Christmas Trees for Coastal Erosion Control includes information about the origins of using discarded trees to address coastal erosion, the potential for harm to wildlife and coastal resources from this practice, alternatives for Christmas tree disposal, and a range of other effective erosion-control and sediment-building options.

COASTSWEEP 2024 - From August through November each year, thousands of people in Massachusetts volunteer for COASTSWEEP—the statewide beach cleanup sponsored by CZM as part of Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. While the numbers are still coming in for COASTSWEEP 2024, preliminary reports show that more than 2,500 volunteers scoured over 200 miles of coastline and collected 7+ tons of trash this year. Also, in September, CZM joined WBZ-TV’s Eric Fisher at a cleanup of Tudor Beach in Nahant with the Johnson School, Nahant SWIM, and the Girl Scouts. Thanks to WBZ-TV for helping to promote this year’s cleanup and highlighting the work of the dedicated COASTSWEEP volunteers. See WBZ-TV’s Eric Fisher joins kids in cleaning up Tudor Beach in Nahant to watch the clip. For additional details on COASTSWEEP 2024, see the press release, as well as the links below for additional news coverage.

CZM will start signups for next year’s COASTSWEEP cleanups in June. If you are interested in receiving information about volunteering or coordinating a cleanup, please send your contact information to coastsweep@mass.gov. And thank you to all our volunteers throughout the years for your enthusiasm and commitment!

CZM Website - The CZM website, which received more than 350,000 views this year, includes over 500 pages of information and 1,000 PDF documents. In 2024, the Communications Program worked with CZM program staff to update and maintain this content, improved website accessibility for screen readers, and added environmental justice content (a new environmental justice page is coming in 2025). In addition to the major new website content described throughout this year-end CZ-Mail, the ResilientCoasts Initiative and MyCoast: Massachusetts web pages were launched in 2024, and 50 Ways to Protect the Massachusetts Coast was updated to focus on Earth Day.

CZM Social Media - For Twitter/X, CZM sent approximately 150 tweets and reposted another 150 from followed accounts, with approximately 40,000 impressions received from almost 1,300 followers. Major Twitter/X campaigns included ResilientCoasts and support of the CZM Coastal Resilience and Coastal Habitat and Water Quality grant programs, the Regional Wildlife Science Collaborative on Offshore Wind in January, Earth Week in April, the Upper Bass River salt marsh restoration project in October, and COASTSWEEP from August to November. The Communications Program also continued to build CZM’s growing photo library on Flickr, adding photographs and descriptions on the Rapid Assessment Survey, Marine Invader Monitoring and Information Collaborative training sessions, COASTSWEEP cleanups (including two new photo collages), a Conomo Point shipwreck site, the Essex Shipbuilding Museum, Rockport Harbor, various native gardens and plants, and more—all of which are available for the public to use with credit provided to CZM. Stay tuned to CZ-Mail in 2025 for announcements of new Bluesky and Instagram social media accounts for CZM.

Press Releases - The Communications Program developed and distributed the following press releases (in reverse chronological order):

CZM Regional Offices

CZM works closely with communities to support local coastal management—an effort led by CZM’s Regional Program. CZM’s Regional Coordinators serve as liaisons between federal and state programs and coastal cities and towns, coordinate regional initiatives, perform project review, and provide technical assistance. Regional Coordinators also lead the project management teams for the Coastal Resilience Grants and Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants in their regions, investing substantial effort to ensure that each project is successfully scoped and completed. In addition to these important roles, a representative highlight for each region is noted below.

North Shore (Salisbury to Revere) - CZM’s North Shore Regional Coordinator partnered with MassDEP’s Northeast Regional Office to support four training opportunities through the Coastal Conservation Commission Network. These trainings covered: the delineation, function, and performance standards for developed barrier beaches; best management practices for dock and pier design; instructions for identifying Land Subject to Coastal Storm Flowage from FEMA maps; and information on using Applying the Massachusetts Coastal Wetlands Regulations: A Practical Manual for Conservation Commissions to Protect the Storm Damage Prevention and Flood Control Functions of Coastal Resource Areas for project review.

Boston Harbor (Winthrop to Weymouth) - In collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CZM’s Boston Harbor Regional and ResilienceCoasts programs worked to advance the Boston Metropolitan Area Coastal Study, which is a regional assessment of long-term coastal flood risk to populations, ecosystems, property, and infrastructure in the Boston Harbor region. This effort also included developing potential strategies to manage risk.

South Shore (Hingham to Plymouth) - With regional coordinator leadership, CZM provided technical, coordination, and facilitation assistance to complete eight FY 2024 Coastal Resilience Grants this year, including the large-scale, inter-municipal beach nourishment initiative in Marshfield and Duxbury—adding almost 86,000 cubic yards of sand and cobble to restore 2,690 feet of shoreline across the two communities.

Cape Cod and Islands (Bourne to Provincetown, Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket, and Gosnold) - Early this year, CZM’s Cape Cod Regional Coordinator began planning the Martha’s Vineyard Coastal Conference in coordination with team members from Barnstable County, Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, The Trustees of Reservations, Martha’s Vineyard Commission, and Woods Hole Sea Grant. The conference was held in October in Vineyard Haven and focused on managed retreat, flood risk, and homeowners and flood insurance under the theme of “Building Coastal Resilience.” More than 115 participants from coastal Massachusetts attended.

South Coastal (Wareham to Seekonk) - CZM continued to work closely with the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program, Buzzards Bay Action Committee, and Buzzards Bay Watershed Restoration Partnership Stakeholder Group to help ensure that important coastal efforts are effectively coordinated for the coastal communities of the region. 

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 2024 highlights are included below.

Grant Awards for Habitat Improvement - In March, the Buzzards Bay NEP announced $182,897 in federally funded grant projects that will preserve critical habitat, support fish migration, and improve tidal flow to salt marshes in the Buzzards Bay watershed. The four grants, which are being matched by nearly $90,000 in state, local, and private funds, were awarded by the NEP through CZM, with funding from the EPA Southeast New England Program. The following municipalities received grants:

  • Fairhaven - $15,000 to purchase a conservation restriction on a 5.75-acre parcel of land to prevent future development, preserve natural resources, and provide passive recreational opportunities to the public. The property, consisting of coastal forest, wetlands, and a perennial stream, immediately connects to over 250 acres of existing conservation land as well as the regional multi-use Phoenix Bike Trail.
  • Marion - $47,897 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to complete feasibility/conceptual designs to replace two undersized culverts on Delano Road in Marion. The culverts restrict water flow between the expansive wooded wetlands of the Great Swamp and adjacent coastal habitats of Buzzards Bay. The project will provide climate resilience benefits, such as preventing the upstream impoundment of water that causes road flooding and allowing for salt marsh migration with rising sea levels.
  • Wareham - $70,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to complete feasibility/conceptual designs to support the replacement of a tidally restrictive culvert on Indian Neck Road at the Crooked River. The project will also investigate the partial removal of a dike that restricts tidal exchange within the adjacent Jack’s Marsh. The replacement of these structures will support climate resilience goals by improving tidal exchange to 11 acres of marsh and facilitating future pathways for marsh migration to adjacent low-lying areas in the face of rising sea levels.
  • Westport - $50,000 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to complete data collection and survey work to advance the replacement of three undersized and deteriorating culverts located on cold water streams. The culverts reduce aquatic connectivity, serve as barriers to native fish migration, and pose risks to public safety. Replacement of these culverts will provide access to critical habitat for migratory fish, including sea-run brook trout, as well as river herring and American eel.

See the press release for more information and the links below for news coverage.

Grant Awards for Water Quality and Habitat Improvement - In September, the Buzzards Bay NEP announced $873,637 in federally funded grant projects that will treat stormwater discharges, evaluate wastewater treatment plant discharge capacity, and protect critical habitat in the Buzzards Bay watershed. The five grants were awarded by the NEP through CZM, with funding from EPA under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The grants also leverage more than $6 million in local, state, and federal funds and in-kind services and help meet Massachusetts’s climate resilience and environmental equity goals. The following municipalities received grants:

  • Bourne - $375,000 to construct a stormwater treatment system to address contaminated runoff from a parking lot at Queen Sewell Pond beach and to design additional stormwater treatment systems for another outfall near the beach at Bayberry Road. Queen Sewell Pond has been prone to bacteria and nutrient contamination, resulting in harmful algae blooms and beach closures. The proposed project will capture and treat the stormwater runoff before it enters the pond.
  • Carver and Wareham - $75,000 each to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to permanently protect 522 acres in Carver and 215 acres in Wareham. Acquisition of these lands will protect forested uplands, cranberry bogs, and wetlands and will contribute to a growing greenway corridor along the Weweantic River. The Buzzards Bay Coalition will acquire and own the land, and both municipal conservation commissions will hold conservation restrictions in their respective towns. The lands will be used for conservation, restoration, public education, and recreation.
  • New Bedford - $250,000 to design and permit green infrastructure stormwater treatment solutions at three sites within the Buttonwood Park Zoo. Stormwater runoff from animal enclosures now discharges high levels of bacteria, sediment, and nutrients to Buttonwood Brook. The new stormwater treatment systems will replicate natural processes to trap and filter stormwater prior to reaching local waterbodies to reduce pollutant loads and improve water quality and habitat in the brook and downstream in Apponagansett Bay.
  • Wareham - $98,637 to evaluate planned increased wastewater flows from the Water Pollution Control Facility. The purpose of the study is to determine if the existing outfall location can accept increased flows from the planned sewer expansion with additional levels of treatment without degrading water quality. The study will also evaluate the benefits of moving the outfall location to other sites.

See the press release for more information and these links for news coverage: Bourne awarded $375K grant to improve water quality at Queen Sewell Pond from The Enterprise and New Bedford awarded $250,000 to design green infrastructure stormwater treatment solutions at three sites from the New Bedford Guide.

Buzzards Bay Targeted Grants - With funding from the Southern New England Program’s (SNEP) Clean Water Act Section 320 funds and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, the Buzzards Bay NEP was able to provide targeted grant support to the following programs:

  • Baywatchers Program - The NEP continued to support the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers water quality monitoring program with a $65,000 grant. For 32 years, Baywatchers has collected basic water quality, nutrient, and algal pigment information around Buzzards Bay during the summer 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.
  • Monitoring Nutrient Inputs to Buzzards Bay from Coastal Rivers - Discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus into coastal rivers are a major source of these nutrients in Buzzards Bay. Although the water quality in the estuarine embayments has been monitored for 32 years as part of the Buzzards Bay Coalition’s Baywatchers program, the nutrient input contributed by rivers remains poorly understood. Quantifying these nutrient flows 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 also be critical to addressing future nutrient loads to the Bay. The NEP provided a $45,948 award to the Woodwell Climate Research Center of Woods Hole to continue a monitoring effort led by Woodwell scientist Chris Neil for a third year. This funding helped pay for continuous monitoring equipment and laboratory testing to measure nitrogen inputs to Buzzards Bay from 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 communities have experienced degradation or loss of salt marshes. To better understand and halt this trend, the Buzzards Bay NEP continued to provide technical support to the Buzzards Bay Coalition and scientists at the Woodwell Climate Research Center for a fourth year to track salt marsh loss in Buzzards Bay principally caused by factors related to climate change. The NEP is interpreting historical aerial photographs and processing elevation data from Global Positioning System (GPS) and field surveys. In addition, the UMass Dartmouth Civil and Environmental Engineering program, with students of Professor Dan MacDonald, continued their effort for a third year. A $49,670 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 2025. 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 a focus on providing educational equity for all public-school students. For a third year, the NEP supported Sea Lab with a $25,889 award. The funding provides scholarships to up to 40 financially disadvantaged students in support of environmental justice goals and funds a field trip to Cuttyhunk Island in Buzzards Bay, a whale watch off Cape Cod, and various supplies and instructional aids for the program.
  • Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative - The Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative is a partnership between the NEP, Massachusetts Maritime Academy, and eight Buzzards Bay watershed municipalities (Acushnet, Bourne, Dartmouth, Fairhaven, Marion, Mattapoisett, Wareham, and Westport). Its focus is to monitor stormwater discharges and map stormwater networks (particularly those contributing to shellfish bed closures) and other municipal stormwater discharges covered under federal Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) stormwater permits. In 2024, the NEP continued its support with a $127,042 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 2024, local contributions totaled $88,500 cash, plus municipal in-kind services from staff working with students in the field collecting samples. 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, including an updated interactive map of stormwater infrastructure and discharge water quality data, see the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative page.

Interactive Stormwater Maps - The NEP added four new interactive maps in support of the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative. The maps help to evaluate stormwater outfalls, show the status of illicit discharge detection and elimination investigations, and provide strategies for MS4 initiatives. The Sampling Dashboard is designed for use on smart phones and supports field investigations. The new mapping products are available on the Buzzards Bay Stormwater Collaborative website.

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 800 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.

Southern New England Program 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 continuing its support of a Buzzards Bay Coalition five-year watershed protection effort on Apponagansett Bay funded under the SNEP Pilot Watershed Initiative. The SNEP funding has helped the Town of Dartmouth and City of New Bedford 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 NEP is supporting the effort by providing land use analysis and GIS services during the five-year project to advance total maximum daily load (TMDL) development. The program has paid dividends in generating three additional infrastructure grants totaling more than $1 million from state and federal agencies.
  • 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 and a similar assessment for Apponagansett Bay in the Town of Dartmouth. The NEP tasks 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 continuing to provide technical support to a Runnel Study that is a collaboration between Towson University, 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. Assistant Professor Alice Besterman of Towson University is lead investigator.

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 2024 accomplishments are listed below.

Underwater Archaeological Resources in Regional Coastal and Ocean Planning - BUAR and CZM continued work on the NOAA Office for Coastal Management’s Project of Special Merit to assess the vulnerability of Massachusetts coastal cultural resources from coastal hazards and sea level rise. The project addresses priorities documented in CZM’s approved Section 309 Assessment and Five-Year Strategy for CZM Program Enhancement (FY 2021-2025). Results from the project will assist CZM, BUAR, and other federal, state, local, and Tribal government agencies in better-informed management and decision-making regarding prioritization of adaptive management options for areas that include coastal cultural resources as part of an overall coastal management strategy. BUAR also contributed information and advice on submerged ancient cultural landscapes identification to CZM staff working on CZM’s on-going Phase II Offshore Sand Resources Characterization study and as a member of NROC’s Submerged Archaeological and Cultural Resources Workgroup.

Publications and Press - BUAR provided interviews on the BUAR-investigated site of the Ipswich shipwreck of the 1875 schooner, Ada K. Damon, after a large section of the wreckage was re-exposed by winter storms early in 2024. See:

Field Investigations - BUAR undertook field investigations and provided technical expertise on 12 underwater and intertidal archaeological sites, ancient submerged cultural landscapes, and artifacts located in Cohasset, Concord, Essex, Gloucester, Ipswich, Mashpee, Newburyport, New Salem, Orleans, Quincy, and Westport. The sites were situated in offshore, coastal, intertidal, and inland waters and included discoveries made by the public while walking and kayaking along the shore, commercial fishermen working in shallow and intertidal nearshore waters, and recreational scuba divers exploring offshore waters, as well as those that were reported by staff of The Trustees of Reservations and state and local agency representatives. Sites and artifacts that were investigated/documented included a wooden log-boat or “mishoon,” wooden posts and metal, concrete, and brick-&-mortar remains of inundated coastal homes, lighthouses and related out-buildings, historical wooden fish-weir remains, wooden ship remains, and exposed areas of submerged and intertidal ancient submerged cultural landscapes. BUAR’s field investigations included ongoing periodic monitoring of site conditions at four shipwreck sites currently being impacted by shoreline change/coastal erosion. BUAR also continued its coordination with citizen scientists who provided BUAR with site condition field monitoring information and assisted BUAR in its coordination with Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory regarding their dendrochronological dating of wooden ship remains hypothesized to be the British armed-schooner, HMS Diana, captured and burned by American forces during the 1775 Revolutionary War Battle of Chelsea Creek.

Maritime Heritage Presentations and Educational Programs - BUAR gave 16 public and professional presentations (in person and via remote access) on a variety of topics related to maritime heritage and participated in multiple meetings and programs throughout Massachusetts and southern New England. Topics covered included Massachusetts underwater archaeology, shipwrecks, submerged ancient cultural landscapes, Tribal consultation, and the threat to Massachusetts coastal heritage resources from erosion caused by sea level rise. Presentations were given to general audiences, Massachusetts dive clubs (e.g., the United Divers of Central Massachusetts), community organizations and museums (e.g., Bay State Council of Divers and Essex Historical Society & Shipbuilding Museum), and Tribes and Indigenous organizations. A public lecture and discussion were co-presented by BUAR, the Hassanamisco Nipmuc Band, and the Massachusetts Archaeological Society (MAS) in Belchertown. With MAS, BUAR also co-sponsored a week-long, intensive photogrammetry workshop held at the MAS Robbins Museum in Middleboro. BUAR presented “Massachusetts’s Underwater Archaeological Resources: An Uncommon Wealth,” as part of the City of Quincy’s Office of Historic and Heritage Resources’ “Environmental Treasures” public lecture series. BUAR also continued with its fourth consecutive year of co-leading and participating in public education and interactive tours of maritime heritage sites on the North Shore for primary- and middle-school-age students, families, and adults as part of the BUAR and The Trustees of Reservations educational “Shipwreck Scholars and Beach Detectives,” “Sunset Maritime Archaeology Talk & Walk,” and “Choate Island Day” special events programming, which were offered multiple times throughout the year, including during Massachusetts Archaeology Month in October.

Tribal Engagement and Coordination - BUAR continued working on active engagement, relationship- and capacity-building, and coordination with Indigenous communities in Massachusetts and New England. These efforts included participating in virtual and on-site meetings with Tribal Historic Preservation Offices and meetings with the Plymouth-based Indigenous Resource Center, continuing to coordinate with BOEM and the Massachusetts federally recognized Tribes regarding BOEM’s “Capacity Building and Collaboration with the Aquinnah and Mashpee Wampanoag Tribes Project,” and acting as a bridge between non-Indigenous EEA, CZM, and other agency staff members and Tribal representatives to facilitate introductions and open communications. BUAR joined CZM’s StormSmart Coasts team in participating in the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe and the Native Land Conservancy’s first annual “Honor the Earth Festival” held on Tribal lands in Mashpee. BUAR also attended and participated in meetings of the Governor’s Tribal Task Force, EEA’s Tribal Working Group, and CZM’s newly formed Environmental Justice, Tribal, and Equity Working Group to discuss developing integrated approaches to engaging Massachusetts’s Tribes and other Environmental Justice communities.

Public Meetings and Archaeological Permitting - BUAR held five hybrid (in-person and remote access) public meetings in 2024. BUAR also worked with 14 permittees and administered 25 BUAR archaeological permits for areas located in 28 Massachusetts cities and towns. Of these permits, 16 were BUAR Special Use Permits, eight were Reconnaissance Permits, and one was an Excavation Permit. In addition, BUAR administered and granted two “Isolated Find Exemption” requests in two additional municipalities. 

Staff & People

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

CZM Director Departure - In January, CZM Director Lisa Berry Engler left CZM to become the Deputy Managing Director for Offshore Wind at MassCEC. Lisa had been with CZM for nearly 9 years, starting in 2015 as the Boston Harbor Regional Coordinator. Prior to CZM, Lisa held positions at MassBays—including a period as Acting Director and as the MetroBoston/Outreach Coordinator—and worked within the Department of Conservation and Recreation Areas of Critical Environmental Concern Program and the Department of Transportation Environmental Services Division. In November 2017, Lisa was named CZM Assistant Director and focused on policy development, regional planning efforts, and technical approaches for the agency. Then in November 2018, Lisa stepped in as Acting Director with the departure of then Director Bruce Carlisle and was named Director soon after in March 2019. During her tenure, CZM played a leading role in coastal resilience, water quality and habitat protection and research, and ocean management. Specifically, CZM distributed $19 million in Coastal Resilience Grants and $1.5 million in Coastal Pollutant Remediation Grants and launched the new Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants program, distributing another $4 million in funding to coastal communities. CZM also completed the update of the Massachusetts Ocean Management Plan in 2021, proactively supported offshore wind planning in the Gulf of Maine and review of offshore wind projects south of the islands, secured more than $26 million in compensatory mitigation for the Commonwealth’s commercial and recreational fishing industries, and launched the new ResilientCoasts initiative. In addition, CZM was instrumental in securing nearly $4 million in federal funds in 2023 to restore coastal habitat and improve resilience to climate change by advancing state Priority Ecological Restoration Projects in Manchester-by-the-Sea and Truro. Lisa successfully maintained CZM focus and momentum through the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, an office move, and the new hybrid work transition. With Lisa’s departure, CZM Assistant Director Tyler Soleau assumed Acting Director responsibilities until a new Director was appointed.

New Assistant Secretary and CZM Director - In April, Alison Brizius was appointed as Assistant EEA Secretary and CZM Director. Alison joined CZM from the City of Boston, where she served as Commissioner of Environment. In that role, she was responsible for leading the Department in addressing climate change impacts, such as achieving net zero emissions while protecting air, water, climate, and land resources, enhancing environmental justice, and improving Boston residents’ quality of life. Previously, she was the city’s Director of Climate and Environmental Planning. Before coming to Boston, Alison served as the Executive Director of the Center for Robust Decision-making on Climate and Energy Policy at the University of Chicago, a multi-institutional interdisciplinary center founded to improve society’s ability to respond to climate change and energy supply challenges. She received her Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Chicago. For more information, see the press release, check out this WCAI interview, and view the links below for news articles.

Chief Coastal Resilience Officer - In May, Deanna Moran was appointed as CZM’s Chief Coastal Resilience Officer to lead ResilientCoasts. Deanna joined CZM from the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), where she served as Vice President for Healthy and Resilient Communities, working to leverage law, planning, policy, research, and finance to address New England’s urgent climate challenges. Previously, she was CLF’s Director of Environmental Planning and was responsible for climate resilience advocacy across New England and the Boston Harbor Public Access Initiative. She earned a law degree from Suffolk University Law School, a Master’s of City and Regional Planning and a Master’s of Public Policy from Rutgers University, and an undergraduate degree in Environmental Design from the University at Buffalo. For more information, see the press release.

Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Specialists - In February, CZM welcomed Kathleen Mason to the Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Program to support water quality aspects of the program in addition to the Coastal Habitat and Water Quality Grants. Kathleen is experienced in water quality management, stakeholder outreach, and communications. She has a Master’s of Environmental Management in Water Resource Management from the Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Colby College. Then in August, CZM welcomed Ally Overbay to provide technical support and project management assistance for restoration projects awarded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Ally is experienced in long-term conservation planning, environmental communications, project management, and coastal ecosystems. She has an M.S. in Environmental Science and Management from the University of Rhode Island and a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Davis.

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