Press Release  Healey-Driscoll Administration Awards $835,000 in Grants to Improve Water Quality and Habitat for Buzzards Bay

Boston — The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $834,861 in grants for projects that will protect and restore habitat in the Buzzards Bay watershed. The five grants are awarded by the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program (NEP) through the Massachusetts Office of Coastal Zone Management (CZM), with funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021. The grants also leverage more than $2.7 million in local and state funds and in-kind services and help meet Massachusetts climate resilience and environmental quality goals.

“We are committed to protecting coastal water quality and habitat and continuing to bring in dollars to Massachusetts to support this important environmental work,” said Coastal Zone Management Director and Interim Director of the Buzzards Bay NEP Alison Brizius. “This is a tremendous effort that brings together communities that promote a thriving Buzzards Bay.”

“Improving our water quality and unique ecosystem is exactly how federal funds should be spent to aid local communities,” said Congressman Bill Keating. “My Congressional District is home to diverse and numerous opportunities to experience the beauty of Massachusetts’s coastline. These funds will improve the lives of all our residents and entice visitors to explore the most beautiful region in the nation.”

“I applaud all of the hard work going on to preserve the unique ecological zones in beautiful Southeastern Massachusetts,” said State Representative John Gaskey (R-2nd Plymouth). “Returning the Weweantic and Wareham rivers to a more natural state will benefit Wareham, Buzzards Bay, and Carver residents by providing opportunities for tourism and provide health benefits to all who rely on these waters for growing food, fishing, and water supply. Most of this area relies on groundwater and keeping our rivers and aquifers clean benefits everyone.”

“Clean water and a quality habitat are the lifeblood of our region. These investments in flood resilience and habitat restoration will serve the residents of Bourne and Plymouth well,” said State Senator Dylan Fernandes (D-Plymouth and Barnstable). “As we work together to restore coastal wetland in Bourne, and fish passage in Plymouth, we’re improving environmental conditions, safeguarding public health and safety, and lifting up the natural resources that make our coastal communities so unique.”

The following municipalities were awarded grants:

• The Town of Bourne will receive $250,000 to complete permitting and final designs to restore 15 acres of coastal wetland at a retired cranberry bog site. This project will reestablish tidal flow to the site from Little Buttermilk Bay, provide a significant area for salt marsh to move inland as sea levels rise, and protect the adjacent community from flooding.
• The Town of Plymouth will receive $210,000 to complete preliminary designs to restore 3.7 miles of stream habitat in the Agawam River for migratory and resident fish, as well as to restore fish passage between the river and Halfway Pond through removal of two dams and restoration of the stream channel.
• The Town of Wareham will receive $143,700 to conduct the first phase of a dam removal feasibility study for Tremont Pond Dam. The dam interferes with river flow and is the last structural barrier to migratory fish passage on the Weweantic River from Buzzards Bay. The project will support river restoration, improve water quality, reestablish fish passage, and reduce hazard and liability risks from flooding.
• The Town of Wareham will receive $101,200 to evaluate options for handling effluent from the Wareham Water Pollution Control Facility, which currently discharges into the upper reaches of the Wareham River. Relocating the effluent outfall would remove a significant nitrogen load from the Wareham River. The project will assess the potential environmental impacts of treated effluent discharge at up to three outfall locations within the Wareham River Estuary.
• The Town of Wareham will receive $129,961 to work with the Buzzards Bay Coalition to permanently protect and restore 98 acres of ecologically significant cranberry bogs along the Weweantic River. After the bogs are acquired by the Buzzards Bay Coalition, the existing agricultural infrastructure will be removed, natural water flow will be restored, and improvements will be made for migratory fish passage and habitat in Beaverdam Creek.

The Office of Coastal Zone Management is the lead policy and planning agency on coastal and ocean issues within the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Created in 1985, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program provides grants and technical assistance to Buzzards Bay watershed communities to protect and restore water quality and natural resources in Buzzards Bay and its surrounding watershed and is one of 28 similar programs designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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