The

Salt Ponds Tidal Page Coalition News of the Salt Ponds www.saltpondscoalition.org Official Watershed Council for the Salt Ponds Winter 2012/2013

Hurricane Sandy Pounds Southern RI-- and Opens Our Eyes on megastorm Sandy (from Jeff Mas- In late October, Hurricane Sandy ters’ s Weather Underground Blog): paid its unwelcome visit to the north- • Area covered by tropical storm- east. Locally, we have had a number force winds: 560,000 sq. miles of near misses from forecasted major (nearly 1/5 the area of the contigu- storms since the last time we really got ous US) hit. So despite days of warning and • Area of ocean with 12 foot seas: “hype” about the approaching “Fran- 1.4 million sq. miles (nearly ½ the kenstorm,” many of us were skeptical area of the contiguous US) that Sandy would prove any different • US coast spanned by tropical from previous false alarms. Sandy, storm-force winds at landfall: 943 however, did turn out to be a true mon- miles (widest on record; simultane- ster, proving the skeptics wrong, and ously caused damage to buildings also proving that forecasts of severe 1200 miles apart) weather and evacuation orders must be • From USGS tide gauges, some taken very seriously. storm surge heights: Watch Hill Here are some amazing statistics Continued on page 5 In This Issue Post-Sandy Sandy Focuses Atten- Breachway Status tion on Winnapaug Message from the As you may recall from the Spring Perhaps the south county salt pond President 2012 Tidal Page, dredging of the Charles- most seriously impacted by Sandy was Hurricane Sandy: town breachway was completed ahead of , in Westerly. Images Overview schedule and under budget. With the ap- out of Misquamicut showing broken Breachway Status proach of superstorm Sandy, the Town of buildings, neighborhood flooding, and Winnapaug Pond Charlestown, Salt Ponds Coalition, and the great piles of sand went viral in the days many other people who worked so hard to after the storm and suggest that many bi- Septic Vs. Sewers Comparison to 1938 make this project happen were concerned products of human habitation were swept that the storm would re-fill the channel up in the maelstrom. These materials Thank You Volunteers-- and sedimentation basin with sand. How- ranged from shattered building materials and Help Wanted! ever, if Charlestown could document how to human sewage and household chemi- much sand was deposited in the channel cals and cleaners. Weeks after the storm, Sea Level Rise and Storm Hazards as a direct result of Sandy, FEMA funds a dumpster was still visible in the pond as could potentially be procured to re-dredge. were remnants of stairs and other broken Shoreline Change Maps Fortunately, the town of Charlestown bits of buildings. Along the north shore had the foresight to plan for this contin- of the pond, wrack lines containing shred- Tale of Two Ponds: Ninigret gency. Last spring, the town purchased a ded buildings, lifeguard stands, propane and Green Hill survey-quality GPS unit which also very tanks and picnic tables were evident. accurately measures elevation. Steve Mc- As was the case with all of the ponds, Candless, Geographic Information Sys- sand inundation from wave over-wash tems (GIS) specialist for the Town of did not seem to be an issue within the Continued on page 5 Continued on page 4 Message From Our President

Dear Members, Happy New Year to you! Make it a healthy and safe one. Well, here we are at the beginning of another year which will be our 28th. Salt Ponds Coalition Much of this issue will report on Super The Salt Ponds Coalition stands up for the Storm Sandy. If it wasn’t a hurricane, it health and sustainable use of the south- sure acted like one! Elise, Mark and I ern Rhode Island salt ponds. SPC is the only organization whose sole charter is to have toured most of the ponds to record monitor and protect these unique resources. the changes. If you have not viewed our website, do so to get an appreciation of the changes. Additional photos, includ- www.saltpondscoalition.org ing stunning aerials taken by Suzanne Email: Oyster farmer Jeff Gardner, SPC President Paton of US Fish and Wildlife, are at Art Ganz, and Executive Director Elise To- [email protected] rello plan an excursion to look for effects of hurricanesandyrisaltponds.shutterfly. Mailing address Hurricane Sandy on Winnapaug Pond. com. Trustom Pond breached and Win- napaug Pond is full of debris. Fortunately PO Box 875 Charlestown, RI 02813 our aquaculture farms sustained minimal damage and only subtle changes were ob- served in the ponds. The scallop harvest seemed not to be affected. The majority of Board of Directors damage was to the beach face and developed properties along the beach. Misqua- Art Ganz micut was most severely hurt and we have been meeting with Westerly officials to President offer advice and experience. We were hoping that the storm would stimulate more Edward Callender Vice Pres., Chair Environmental serious discussion over breachway maintenance. Rocks have tumbled into each of Committee the channels adding more safety concern. Thanks to Steve McCandless and volun- Marshall Mugge teers, storm related shoaling of Charlestown and Quonnie Breachways has been Treasurer determined and that information went to FEMA. Nancy Zabel This will be a busy spring for repair to our coastal salt ponds and barrier beach Secretary ecosystem. There will be countless opportunities to help. Local beach associations David Bailey should be restoring their sand dunes, which were key to minimizing much of the John Crandall damage. Stabilizing using beach grasses and shrubbery plantings will take many Sarah Dodd hands. A list of recommended plants is available through the Coastal Resources Management Council. Several of our local landscape companies have developed Barbara Engel a specialty for dune fencing and planting. CRMC has been giving out emergency Jack Frost repair permits, but is expected to make significant changes in reconstruction prac- Sharon Frost tices. For approximately two years, CRMC has been attempting to fund a Coastal Martha Hosp Change Special Area Management Plan (Beach SAMP) for the south coast. This Roy Jeffrey will provide the guidance and governance for building and infrastructure. As fund- ing is beginning to flow, Salt Ponds Coalition plans to play an important part in this William Lester project. Leo Mainelli Roy Jeffrey will be contacting Pond Watchers to see if they will continue their Chris Randall service in 2013. We will be looking for additional volunteer pond watchers. We are Dick Sartor also looking for a volunteer to operate our Salt Pond Safari program next year. We need someone good with children and some very basic fish identification – or be Executive Director willing to be trained. Contact Elise at the office 322-3068. Elise Torello Our best wishes go out to our good friend Dr. Jon Boothroyd, who fell and Mark Bullinger broke his hip right after the storm. When we thought he was out assessing the Tidal Page Editing storm damage, he was in a nursing home. He is home now and on the mend. and Layout Again, thank you for your continued support! Elise Torello

The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Page 2 Thank You--and Help Wanted! please let us know. On October 22nd, SPC said a heartfelt “Thank You!!!” to We also are looking for a volunteer to help host our pop- our volunteers with a barbeque and oysters and chowder gen- ular Salt Pond Safaris. On the first Saturday of the summer erously provided by Board member John Crandall. We truly months, we meet at Nini- appreciate our 30 steadfast pond watchers, who faithfully gret Pond to introduce collect samples every two weeks from May-October. This is children to the wonders of such a tremendous commitment for the benefit of our ponds, life in the pond. We use and we are very grateful. Several long-time pondwatchers a 30’ seine net to capture were recognized: George Hill (12 years); Pam Ganz, Gud- fish, crabs, and other pond man Lovoll, and Ralph Minopoli (11 years); Don Rocheleau creatures, which capture (9 years); Ted Truslow (8 years); Ted Callender (6 years); the hearts of the children Mark Bullinger, Al Depersia, Tom Dodd, Barbara Engel, Su- and their parents! Board member John Crandall shucks san Jenson, and Dick Sartor (5 years). Fantastic! So, if you enjoy meet- his donated oysters for SPC’s volun- teers--thank you, John! Thanks also to our Kettle Pond Visitor Center front desk ing people and watching volunteers, who commit hours of their time each month to children having fun and learning about the environment help us pay our rent. Their efforts allow us to have use of this and would like to volunteer at KPVC or on safaris, please wonderful facility for meetings and gatherings. SPC needs call 401-322-3068 or email [email protected]. more volunteers to work at the front desk--if you can help, Many, many thanks to you all!!!

Batten Down the Hatches Hurricane Sandy was a big wake-up call on the impor- Many of us were surprised by the size of the storm surge from tance of cleaning up and securing properties near the ponds Hurricane Sandy. Perhaps we had secured docks, boats, outdoor before a big storm, especially if a storm surge is predicted. It furniture, and such in advance of the storm’s arrival, only to find is especially critical to make sure that paint cans, gas/oil cans, our preparations inadequate given the severity of the tide, wind, lawn/garden fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides, and other and waves. Debris was evident in the high-water wrack lines in household chemicals are not stored where they might end up some places around the ponds. Some of the debris looked to be of in the ponds in the event of a higher than expected storm surge. recent origin, but there was also debris that appeared to have been Hopefully lessons learned thanks to Sandy will help us all be hidden or buried for some time and dislodged by the storm. better protectors of the ponds for the next storm! Trustom Pond Breached level dropped significantly. The pond is transitioning to a ma- Trustom Pond breached for the first time in about six years rine system for now—freshwater fish and plants were killed by thanks to the storm surge and huge waves of Hurricane Sandy. the influx of ocean water and replaced by saltwater species. Trustom Pond is a coastal lagoon with an undeveloped shore- It is important to note that as a coastal lagoon, intermittent line (Moonstone Barrier) in South Kingstown. It lies between breaching to the ocean is a natural process for Trustom Pond. to the east and Green Hill Pond to the west. Since Although some freshwater species were displaced, other species, Trustom had not been connected to the ocean via a breach since including threatened shorebirds, will benefit. the mid-2000s, it Because Trustom Pond is located within a National Wild- had gradually be- life Refuge, Salt Ponds Coalition does not perform water quality come a freshwater monitoring there. However, the US FWS has been monitoring ecosystem. Only the pond for many years and will continue to study the pond freshwater fishesand breach. FWS is also consulting with experts about when such as sunfish and the breach may close naturally by deposition of sand transported Photo by S. Paton, US Fish and Wildlife largemouth bass along the shore. FWS biologists are studying waterfowl popu- were present, along lations in the pond, and next summer will conduct studies of with freshwater aquatic plants including the invasive Eurasian aquatic vegetation and milfoil. The pond was exhibiting signs of impaired water qual- fish populations ity, including low water clarity, algal blooms, elevated nutrients, So, if you want to ob- and high bacteria counts (S. Faubl, A Management-Oriented Water serve the dynamic nature Quality Investigation of Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge). of coastal lagoons, visit Breaching drastically changed Trustom Pond. Over time, Trustom Pond off Matu- freshwater inputs the water level in the pond had risen relative to nuck Schoolhouse Road Photo by T. Tetzner. the ocean. Therefore, when the breach opened, Trustom’s water in South Kingstown. Page 2 Page 3 The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Winnapaug Pond quantities and types of contamination that Continued from front page 1 washed into the water. There might also pond itself. This is likely due to the water have been some additional sedimentation level in the ponds being so high during the brought in through the breachway, but un- worst of the storm. Sand-bearing waves like Charlestown, Westerly doesn’t have a swept over the dunes until they met with baseline survey for comparison. the high pond waters, where they lost mo- Rhode Island DEM tests for bacteria mentum and dropped the sand well above levels in the pond and cleared it for the sale the normal tideline. Sand berms were of shellfish shortly after the storm. SPC with Sandy could be the catalyst needed formed – often covering marsh grass – but sampling is finished for the 2012 season, to get a broad coalition of interests pulling did not make it into the pond in very many but will commence again in May 2013. together to seek funding and permitting. areas. Credit also goes to broad swaths Our sampling program’s emphasis is on Some may be in it for the environment, of native vegetation that helped slow the long-term trends and will show if there some for the sand, but as long as their in- waves and capture sand. were significant systemic changes to nutri- terests fundamentally overlap, that’s how Having toured the pond by wa- ent levels in the pond. public projects get things done. ter and by land, it seems the effects of One potentially positive consequence In the meantime, cleanup of the bar- the storm fall into two basic categories: of the storm is that it might speed the way rier beach area goes on. The great sand 1) the physical wreckage that litters the to dredging and habitat restoration within flows that covered everything in the heart pond and shoreline; and 2) the unknown Winnapaug Pond, which is choked with of Misquamicut have been stockpiled in sand bars and sediment. The beach inter- the state beach parking area. Mechanical ests in Misquamicut are desperate for good sifters are hard at work cleaning all kinds beach sand to help restore and fortify the of materials from the sand so it can be Misquamicut beaches and there are tens of pushed back onto the beach before Me- thousands of cubic yards of the stuff in the morial Day. Plans are also being developed pond, where it has built up over the past as to how septic systems scoured from the sixty years. The tragic damages associated sand dunes will be replaced.

Flooding Effects: Septic Systems Vs. Sewers lines would have done. According to ex- Since denitrifying wastewater treat- house may be destroyed by floodwaters. perts we consulted, modern sewers would ment systems were mandated near the The other major component of most probably have been okay. Given their depth coast, many people have wondered how high-tech systems is the bottomless sand below street level, they likely wouldn’t have such systems would fare if inundated. Su- filter, where treated effluent is released into been directly damaged by the storm. Ad- perstorm Sandy provided a first look at the the ground. The sand filters are often con- vocates of sewers claim that modern pipes facts on the ground--and under the water. structed using landscaping ties that extend are water tight; however, they can be over- In Misquamicut, where several hun- above grade. There is a layer of breathable whelmed with flood waters if the houses dred buildings were flooded, impacts were pea stone on top, then layers of sand, and they were connected to are washed away, varied. Inland of the dune-line, many green then the native soil. In some cases, the or if ground water from the inundated area fiberglass tanks--normally flush-mounted above-ground wooden structures were is forced through the joints. Could a surge in the ground--were broken loose due to damaged by flowing water. In systems of water entering the system cause backups buoyancy and askew or missing. When where the soils were soaked with saltwa- into homes, or overflows at the pumping the tanks lifted, PVC pipes broke, waste- ter and the breathable layers of the system station in Misquamicut? Or could a surge water was released, and the tanks filled were clogged with sand and silt, these lay- of water overwhelm the treatment plant? with seawater. To repair this situation, a ers ceased to be breathable. This situation Those are important questions as sewers in crew would have to re-excavate the site, could kill off beneficial bacteria that are Misquamicut are studied further. replace the tank, and anchor it down. part of the treatment process. Measuring Any system installed along the shore- Electronic connections, pumps, and the effect of this will be hard, as it probably line is exposed to high risk. In these ar- fans in the tank assembly may have been won’t affect how efficiently water soaks eas the only truly safe options are to have damaged by flood waters. These are mod- into the ground. Systems may appear to structures up on pilings and to have waste ular and can be replaced--not inexpensive, be working normally, but nitrogen reduc- handled by composting toilets or tight but much less than a new system. Addi- tion rates might be reduced. storage tanks with the infrastructure slung tional electrical components in or on the Another big question is how sewer under the floor, high above ground level.

The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Page 4 Hurricane Sandy ern RI coastal lagoons will take time. 2013 summer season. According to RI Continued from front page 1 While there was a tremendous amount Coastal Resources Management Coun- Yacht Club (5.86 ft.), Weekapaug of sand that was washed over the coast- cil’s (CRMC) web site, “Any structures breachway (6.39 ft.), Ocean House al barriers, this is part of the natural in Type 1 waters that were damaged Marina in Ninigret Pond (3.97 ft.), landward migration of these barriers in this storm will have to be assessed Green Hill Beach (8.43 ft.), Skip’s (see the article about glacial origins in by CRMC staff on a case-by-case ba- Dock in Pt. Judith Pond (6.59 ft.). the Fall 2012 Tidal Page). Thus, this sis, as well as those with exposed sep- As the impacts of Sandy on the washover process can’t really be called tic systems...Long-term, the CRMC southern RI shoreline became known “damage” to the pond or barrier. How- will monitor the southern coast of RI in the days after the storm, I couldn’t ever, the winds, storm surge, and huge to determine if it will replenish itself help thinking that Dr. Jon Boothroyd, waves unleashed by Sandy distributed through the natural process.” The en- RI State Geologist and University of large quantities of debris in and around tire south coast of RI is adjacent to RI Research Professor Emeritus, had the ponds. Some of this garbage ap- Type 1 waters. Some of the sand lost in real told-you-so rights. At SPC’s an- pears to have been hidden in brush the storm is already starting to return in nual meeting Dr. Boothroyd had spo- and grass or buried in sand around the some areas of the shoreline, but towns ken about southern RI’s glacial history, ponds for some time, and then was are also looking for other ways to re- the transient nature of coastal barriers, washed loose during the storm. Debris plenish the beaches. In Misquamicut, sea level rise, climate change, and in- from damaged buildings has also ended sand scooped off of Atlantic Ave and creased storm hazards. He even spoke up in the ponds. Charlestown Harbor other areas must be screened to remove about how much worse it was to have a Master Justin Vail has been cleaning up debris before being put back on the major storm pass to the west of us since debris as large as utility poles, and also beaches. The town of Westerly is look- the onshore winds would push the trying to reunite wayward docks with ing for other potential sources of sand, storm surge further inland. And here their owners. such as dredging Winnapaug Pond. we were less than three months later The two most overarching issues In this issue of The Tidal Page, we watching the processes he described in on many coastal residents’ and business will present several articles related to action, up close and personal. owners’ minds post-Sandy, however, Hurricane Sandy. No doubt, the last- Determining what damaging ef- are rebuilding their homes/business- ing impacts of Sandy will be visited in fects, if any, Sandy had on our south- es, and rebuilding the beaches for the future issues of the Tidal Page as well.

Breachways sedimentation basin is 57,000 cubic yards. FEMA funds to pay for the removal of the Continued from front page 1 Steve is estimating the cost of dredg- rocks from the channel and for the repair Charlestown, used this GPS from Harbor ing the volume of sand brought into the of the breachway walls. Master Justin Vail’s boat to perform a de- breachway by Sandy and working with the We know less about possible dam- tailed, highly accurate pre-storm survey of Coastal Resources Management Council age to Quonochontaug Breachway. Since the bottom of the dredged channel. Once to apply for FEMA funds for this amount. the breachway has not been dredged re- the storm had passed and conditions were This would be reserved for covering this cently, it was not feasible to try to account safe enough, Steve went back out with portion of the total cost of the next main- for damage from Sandy to apply FEMA Justin and performed a post-storm survey. tenance dredge of the breachway, which funds. As in Charlestown Breachway, the They found that thanks to the pre- will likely be within the next 4-5 years. indirect prevailing wind direction seems vailing wind direction being from the More challenging and potentially to have prevented large-scale filling of the east/northeast (across rather than directly more expensive damage to the Charles- channel. The channel walls also appear into the mouth of the channel), Sandy town Breachway resulted from the pound- largely undamaged. did not re-fill the dredged channel to the ing of storm waves against the east wall of Dredging of Quonochontaug breach- extent feared. According to Steve’s mea- the channel. According to Coastal Pond way is part of the Army corps of Engineers surements, 3,240 cubic yards of sand en- Management Commission chairman Rob South Shore Restoration Project and is in tered the breachway during the storm, and Lyons, a number of rocks were pushed into the planning stages. However, dredging of that 3,200 cubic yards had stopped in the channel from the wall. This is causing and restoration in Winnapaug pond is the sedimentation basin. This is approxi- parts of the wall to be nearly underwater next in line in this project. SPC will ad- mately the same amount of sand that had at high tide, and the wall is no longer safe vocate for the completion of the South accumulated in the channel during the for fishermen to walk on. Charlestown Shore Restoration Project for the benefit previous two months. The capacity of the and the State of RI are also applying for both ponds.

Page 4 Page 5 The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Hurricane Sandy’s Effects on the Salt Ponds

Photo by T. Tetzner Photo by E. Torello

The high storm surge from Hurricane Sandy, on top of a full-moon spring tide, caused significant damage to private and commercial docks within the ponds. Left photo: Ninigret Pond. Center photo: Green Hill Pond. Right photo: Jim’s Dock, Pt. Judith Pond.

Photo by Don and Nate Bousquet, courtesy of the Photo by Don and Nate Bousquet, courtesy of the Nopes Island Conservation Association Nopes Island Conservation Association

The storm surge from Sandy caused significant overwash of sand onto the coastal barriers which separate the salt ponds from the ocean. The two photos above (left, mid- dle), show the Quonochontaug Barrier before and after the storm. Note the location of the “slip slope”, or pondward boundary of the overwash, relative to the small building at lower left of each photo. The top of the slip-slop indicates the high-water level in the pond--this is where the storm surge dropped sand when it reached the pond waters (above right). Also note that Japanese black pines planted on the western end of the barrier (top of photos) prevented sand from washing over, creating a higher, steeper “reflective” rather than “dissipative” dune front. Sand also washed over the Green Hill Barrier (below, left) and East Matunuck beach in front of (below, middle) but did not reach the ponds. Surprisingly, most of the major overwash on the Misquamicut Barrier (below, right) also did not appear to reach Winnapaug Pond.

Photo by E. Torello Photo by S. Paton, US Fish and Wildlife Service

The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Page 6 Photo by T. Tetzner Photo by R. Lyons

Pounding storm waves pushed large rocks from the east wall of the Charlestown Breachway into the channel. Photo by T. Tetzner FEMA funds are being sought to repair the damage. The high storm surge from Hurricane Sandy, on top of a full-moon spring tide, caused significant damage to private and commercial docks within the ponds. Left photo: Ninigret Pond. Center photo: Green Hill Pond. Right photo: Jim’s Dock, Pt. Judith Pond.

The pounding waves in Misquamicut revealed an...interesting...method of dune-building used after the Great Hurricane of 1938. The car even had low miles!

Photo by R. Petrocelli Photo by R. Petrocelli

Photo by M. Bullinger

The storm surge from Sandy caused significant overwash of sand onto the coastal barriers which separate the salt ponds from the ocean. The two photos above (left, mid- dle), show the Quonochontaug Barrier before and after the storm. Note the location of the “slip slope”, or pondward boundary of the overwash, relative to the small building at lower left of each photo. The top of the slip-slop indicates the high-water level in the pond--this is where the storm surge dropped sand when it reached the pond waters Hurricane Sandy brought some rare, out- (above right). Also note that Japanese black pines planted on the western end of the barrier (top of photos) prevented sand from washing over, creating a higher, steeper of-state visitors to our coastal lagoons. A “reflective” rather than “dissipative” dune front. Sand also washed over the Green Hill Barrier (below, left) and East Matunuck beach in front of Potter Pond (below, middle) white pelican doesn’t quite fit in with the but did not reach the ponds. Surprisingly, most of the major overwash on the Misquamicut Barrier (below, right) also did not appear to reach Winnapaug Pond. local gulls on a newly revealed gravelly bar in Trustom Pond just before Thanks- giving! Several brown pelicans were also brought north by the storm.

The photo below shows storm waves and overwash on the much flatter Weekapaug Photo by E. Torello Barrier beach.

Photo by R. Petrocelli Weekapaug Barrier after Sandy, courtesy of Vik Dvorak.

Page 6 Page 7 The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Sea Level Rise and Storm Hazards in the Salt Pond Region

Thanks to Hurricane Sandy, sea • Causing the loss of recreation areas level rise and increasing storm hazards and public space due to climate change are topics that • Drowning of salt marsh habitat. have been very much on the minds The rate of increase of marsh el- of those of us living near the coast. evation is slower than rate of SLR Thus, Dr. Jon Boothroyd’s presenta- and coastal development prevents tion at SPC’s annual meeting, which marshes from migrating landward. discussed these very issues, could not • Causing further saltwater intrusion have been more timely and relevant. into aquifers; threatening wastewa- In the last issue of The Tidal Page ter treatment systems in the coastal we summarized the portion of Dr. zone with higher water tables. Boothroyd’s talk explaining the glacial origins of the southern RI salt pond Storm Hazards region. In this article, we will dis- Dr. Boothroyd stated, “The sea cuss sea level rise and storm hazards. Figure 1. SLR in Newport, RI (from Dr. Boothroyd). may be rising long term – but in- Two documents which contain much of stantaneous storm surges elevate sea level the material in Dr. Boothroyd’s talk and temperatures) and regional factors (land now.” During Hurricane Sandy, most of were valuable resources for this article rebounding (rising) after a glacier has the serious damage to coastal structures are: Rhode Island’s Salt Pond Region: A retreated, or land subsiding due to water was due to the storm surge and pound- Special Area Management Plan (Salt Pond or oil extraction). As it turns out (unfor- ing storm waves. As was the case with SAMP), available online at www.crmc. tunately for us in RI), according to a re- the Great Hurricane of 1938, the storm ri.gov/regulations/SAMP_SaltPond.pdf; cent paper published in Nature Climate happened to coincide with a spring tide and The State of Rhode Island Coastal Re- Change (Sallenger et al, 2012, www.na- (higher than usual tide due to full or new sources Management Program, available ture.com/nclimate/journal/v2/n12/full/ moon). In addition, Sandy was so huge online at www.crmc.ri.gov/regulations/ nclimate1597.html), the northeast Atlan- that it affected the coast of RI during sev- RICRMP.pdf (RI CRMP). tic coast of North America is experienc- eral high tides, compounding the damage. ing relative SLR rate increases ~3-4 times The factors that can combine to build Sea Level Rise higher than the global average. In the last the magnitude and destructiveness of Sea level rise (SLR) has been hap- century, sea level recorded by the Newport storm surges include: pening since the ice began melting from tide gauge rose about 10 inches (Figure 1), • High winds blowing across the sur- the last glaciation about 20,000 years ago. and the RI Coastal Resources Manage- face of the ocean, pushing and piling Since then, global sea level has risen by ment Council (CRMC) is currently plan- up ocean water against the coast about 400 feet. Human activities in the ning for an additional 3 to 5 foot SLR by • Reduced atmospheric pressure within past century have accelerated the rate of 2100. the storm reducing pressure on the global warming, which in turn has acceler- Rising sea level will impact the coast ocean surface ated the rate of SLR. In addition, destabi- of RI in multiple ways. According to the • Tidal phase during the storm--spring lization of ice sheets on land, such as those RI CRMP, these impacts will include: high tide is worst on Greenland and Antarctica, could po- • Displacing coastal popu- Whether the storm tentially cause a “meltwater pulse,” or ad- lations passes to our west ditional rapid rise in sea level from glacial • Threatening infrastruc- or our east. melt water. There is still uncertainty about ture (residential/commer- the potential contribution of land ice to cial structures, roads, and Figure 2. Storm path and effect on winds and storm SLR, and scientists have only recently bridges) surge (adapted from Salt been including this in their SLR models. • Reducing the effective- Pond SAMP). Passage to SLR does not occur at the same rate ness and integrity of ex- the west (top) results in at every coast on the planet. Relative SLR isting shoreline protection maximum onshore wind and severe storm-surge at any particular location depends on both which was designed for flooding. Passage to the global changes (melting of glacial ice lower water levels east (bottom) results in and thermal expansion of seawater, both • Intensifying coastal flood- offshore wind and mini- of which are accelerated by rising global ing and coastal erosion mum storm-surge.

The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Page 8 With counterclockwise wind circulation, ing or drowning. if a storm passes to our west, the storm This is exactly winds are onshore and are added to the the situation we forward velocity of the storm resulting in are observing on a more severe storm surge. If the storm the Misquamicut passes to our east, the storm winds are off- barrier in West- shore and the forward speed of the storm erly, as overwashed is “subtracted” from the storm wind speed sand 4-5 feet deep -122.0 ft (Figure 2). on Atlantic Ave. 1939 -37.2 m Dr. Boothroyd pointed out in his talk has been scooped -120.1 ft -36.6 m that storms are the most important driver up and piled onto -128.8 ft in coastal change. Superimposing storm the beach park- -145.2 ft -39.3 m -44.3 m surges and waves on accelerated SLR will ing lots. This sand make the shoreline of RI more vulnerable will be screened to Figure 4. Frontal erosion at Browning Cottages, 1939-2011 (slide from to flooding and erosion. According to the remove debris and Dr. Boothroyd’s presentation). The barrier has eroded over 120 feet since 1939. RI CRMP, CRMC accepts the consensus placed back on the of the overwhelming majority of climate beach. Meanwhile, scientists that global temperatures will the dunes formerly on the beach are small “wrack lines,” or lines of aquatic vegeta- continue to rise into this century, likely in- or non-existent, the beach continues to tion and debris deposited at the high tide creasing the frequency of intense storms. erode, and the back side of the barrier is line (Figure 5). University of Rhode Is- Higher sea levels will cause storm surges not built by overwashed sand. land Professor Peter August and Environ- and storm waves to reach further inland. The landward migration of the mental Data Center scientists Chuck La- On undeveloped coastal barriers, Moonstone Barrier in South Kingstown Bash, Greg Bonynge, and Mike Bradley storm surge overwash supplies sand to is very apparent at the location of the his- along with graduate student Erica Tefft the back side (pond side) of the barrier toric Browning Cottages, where the bar- collected GPS coordinates of the high and increases the elevation of the barrier. rier has eroded more than 120 feet since water mark on pond-side properties and This also causes the barrier to migrate 1939 (Figures 3 and 4). Sadly, several of elsewhere along the RI coast. They took landward over time. However, develop- these cottages are being razed due to ir- photographs, noted the direction of water ment on the barriers usually results in reparable damage from Hurricane Sandy. flow, and recorded the landscape setting of overwashed sand being moved back to the the wrack line at each location. This ef- beach side of the barrier, starving the back Inundation Modeling fort will not only document the extent of side of the barrier of sand and prevent- Going forward, models predicting flooding from Sandy in RI, but can also ing the barrier from growing in elevation. SLR and inundation zones will be very be used to validate, or ground-truth, GIS With increased SLR, this will make the useful to scientists and policy-makers de- models of storm surge inundation. barrier much more susceptible to breach- veloping climate change adaptation strat- Modeling the extent of inundation egies. Using accurate digital land from SLR and storm surges is of great elevation data and computer soft- importance in assessing future flood risk. ware known as Geographic In- These models can be used to assess where formation Systems (GIS), scien- infrastructure and property are vulnerable tists can create models to predict to SLR and storm surges. where land would be inundated by various amounts of sea level rise. These models are sometimes referred to as “bath tub ring mod- els”—picture water rising up the sides of a bath tub as it fills. Hurricane Sandy presented Figure 3. Aerial photo by S. Paton of US Fish and Wildlife an opportunity to document the Service taken several days after Sandy, showing over- actual inland extent of flooding washed sand on the coastal barrier in front of Cards from a significant storm surge Pond in South Kingstown. Note the location of the on top of SLR. The high-water Figure 5. Photo from Professor Peter August Browning Cottages at the right edge of the photo. line from the storm left tell-tale showing a wrack line with debris from Sandy. Page 8 Page 9 The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Sandy vs. 1938: In RI, Not Even Close 20 mph. Thus, sustained winds in RI were After Hurricane Sandy was over and The Hurricane of 1938, which made in the 40-50 mph range, with gusts at the the extent of the destruction along the RI landfall as a Category 3 storm, caught coast over 80 mph. Maximum storm tides shoreline became clear, a question that shoreline visitors and residents by sur- here were in the 4-6 foot range. All of this kept coming up was “How does this com- prise on a seemingly ordinary September was enough to do a great deal of damage pare with the Hurricane of 1938?” Any- afternoon. The storm raced north toward to structures on the shore of RI and bring one old enough to remember and who was Eastern Long Island and New England at widespread, extended power outages, but in southern RI or CT during that storm an estimated 70 mph—the fastest known nowhere near the devastation of 1938. would likely answer “Not even close.” forward speed of a hurricane. Adding this In the Caribbean, NY, and NJ, Sandy As devastated as Misquamicut is after astounding forward speed to the wind was catastrophic. With the terrible death Sandy, it is nowhere near the catastrophe speed on the eastern side of the storm, toll and damage estimates at $63 billion that was wrought upon the Long Island, where the wind direction was from the in the US as of the end of November CT, and RI shorelines by the Great Hur- south due to the storm’s counterclockwise (NOAA), Sandy is currently the second ricane of 1938. Tragically, 253 people in- rotation, resulted in wind gusts of over 180 costliest storm on record after Katrina. cluding 131 in the US lost their lives dur- mph over CT and RI. Plus, the storm hit For an excellent description of the ing Sandy, according to NOAA, and the a few hours before high tide during higher Hurricane of 1938, read Professor Scott destruction in NY and NJ was far worse than usual tides due to the combination of Mandia’s summary at www2.sunysuffolk. than here in RI. Still, the Hurricane of the Autumnal Equinox and a new moon. edu/mandias/38hurricane/weather_histo- 1938 was deadlier, with a death toll at be- These factors combined to produce ry_38.html. Another excellent document tween 600 and 700 people; of these, 136 30-50 foot waves and storm tides of 14 is The 1938 Great New England Hur- were in the stretch from Mystic, CT to to 19 feet across the southern New Eng- ricane: Looking to the Past to Understand Narragansett, RI according to Lewis R. land and Long Island coasts. Downtown Today’s Risk by Patricia Grossi, RMS, Inc., Greene in his book, The Hurricane Sept. 21, Providence experienced a storm surge of 2008 (www.rms.com/publications/1938_ 1938: Westerly, Rhode Island and Vicinity— almost 20 feet. One damage estimate in Great_New_England_Hurricane.pdf ). Historical and Pictorial (1938). In addition, 2008 dollars is between $4.5 and $6 billion A good description of Sandy’s weather 1018 houses and cottages were destroyed (Grossi, 2008). history and statistics may be found at in this region. Over 400 buildings on Sandy, a Category 1 storm, was huge, the NOAA link www.srh.noaa.gov/ Misquamicut Beach and 55 on Fort Rd. spreading its destructive power over an ex- bro/?n=2012event_hurricaneseasonwrap, from Watch Hill to Napatree Point were tensive area (see article on p. 1). However, and also at the NASA link www.nasa.gov/ completely demolished. The entire south the storm made landfall well to our south- mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/ coast of RI was utterly devastated. west and was moving at between 15 and h2012_Sandy.html. Shoreline Change Maps Illustrate Dynamic Nature of Coastline

Hurricane Sandy vividly illustrated systems, etc.) from the inland boundary of tions or restoration of structures that con- the dynamic nature of our coastline, par- a coastal feature. Thus, according to the RI form with all other policies and standards ticularly the sandy coastal barriers that Coastal Resources Management Program: of this program.” separate the salt ponds from the ocean. “The minimum distance of a setback shall CRMC is evaluating each damaged These barriers have been changing ever be not less than 30 times the calculated av- property to determine whether the own- since their formation after the last glacia- erage annual erosion rate for less than four er can rebuild in the same location, and tion. In 2007, Professor Jon Boothroyd dwelling units and not less than 60 times whether modification and/or relocation of and Rachel Hehre prepared 150 maps for the calculated average annual erosion rate the septic system is necessary. , plus 23 maps for the for commercial, industrial or dwellings south shore of RI, which document and of more than 4 units. At a minimum quantify these changes since 1939. These however, setbacks shall extend either 50 fascinating maps are online at www.crmc. feet from the inland boundary of the ri.gov/maps/maps_shorechange.html. coastal feature or 25 feet inland of the These maps are used by the RI edge of a Coastal Buffer Zone, which- CRMC to calculate average yearly rates of ever is further landward.” However, im- change for the coastline. These rates are portantly for property owners wanting used to calculate minimum distances of to rebuild after Sandy, “The setback pro- approved activities (buildings, new septic visions do not apply to minor modifica- The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Page 10 Tale of Two Ponds: Ninigret and Green Hill Figure 3 is a plot of average AHIs for At the core of SPC’s mission is its Ninigret Pond furthest from the breach- Green Hill Pond sites. Water quality has water quality monitoring program. Every way, has been sampled for more years than been heavily impacted by dense housing year, dedicated volunteers collect samples the other sites in Ninigret Pond. The AHI development around much of the pond. every two weeks from May - October at at the Crawford Dock site is in the “Poor” Furthermore, exchange of pond water twenty-five sites in six RI salt ponds. Here with clean ocean we present monitoring results for Nini- water is restricted gret and Green Hill Ponds through 2011. by the channel to Point Judith and Potter Ponds will be dis- Ninigret Pond. In cussed in the next Tidal Page. 2010, all four sites As in Part 1 (Fall 2012 Tidal Page), in Green Hill were water quality results are presented as in the poor AHI Aquatic Health Indices (AHI). The AHI category. Two sites scores sampling parameters on a scale of 0 (In Pond and Teal to 100, like a school report card. Thus, a Rd.) had slightly score of less than 35 for a water quality pa- AHI category--the worst water quality of improved 2011 AHIs versus 2010, while rameter is poor and a score of greater than any of the sites in this pond--and appears the other two (Indigo Point and Sea Lea) 65 is good. An average AHI score is cal- to be declining. A linear regression line of had worse AHI scores. Trend lines for the culated for each testing site, and from the the AHI values at Crawford Dock has a data all had negative slopes, indicating de- site averages an average AHI is calculated slope of -4.8, with an r2 value (correlation clining water quality; however, at Sea Lea for each pond to give an overall picture coefficient) of 0.83, indicating a strong fit the decline was slight and there was a very of pond health. We produce a report for of the data points to the regression line. poor fit of the regression line to the data. each pond with a table of AHI values and A possible cause of the a map with symbols for each AHI score poor water quality at (see below). These reports are available on this site is the tendency our web site: www.saltpondscoalition.org/ of winds to pile mac- monitoring.html. There are also more de- roalgae on the shore ad- tailed data reports for each sampling site jacent to the dock. The available through our web site. decaying organic matter Ninigret and Green Hill Ponds, locat- consumes dissolved ox- ed in Charlestown and South Kingstown, ygen (DO) and releases + are connected by a narrow channel which ammonium (NH4 ) and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) The regression line at the In Pond site was to the water column. Low DO steeper (slope = -2.0), but there was also a + and high NH4 and DON are the weak fit of the regression line to the data. factors that result in poor water The regression lines at Indigo Point (slope quality for the years 2006 to 2011. = -3.6, r2 = 0.49) and Teal Rd. (slope = -2.4, Water quality at the remain- r2 = 0.36) also showed declines in water ing sites was fair. Stumpy Point’s quality and had moderate r2 values. AHI score improved by 18 points Green Hill is the most negatively versus 2010, Vigna’s Dock’s AHI impacted of our salt ponds. It has been improved by 11 points, and Potato closed to shellfishing since the 1990s due passes under a bridge on Charlestown Point’s AHI remained unchanged. Over- to unacceptable bacteria levels. Dense Beach Rd. All exchange of water with all, water quality at Vigna’s Dock appears development adds nutrients to the pond the ocean for both ponds occurs through to be improving since 2004. A regres- through septic systems, lawn fertilizer, and the Charlestown breachway into Ninigret sion line of the data has a slope of +3.9 pet waste. Resident Canada goose popu- Pond, which was dredged in early 2012. and an r2 of 0.58. Water quality at Potato lations make their “contributions” to nutri- Figure 1 is a plot of average AHI val- Point, Stumpy Point, and Western Basin ent enrichment through their droppings. ues for sampling sites in Ninigret Pond. is remaining about the same. It will be Properly maintaining septic systems, lim- Each value is an average of the AHI values interesting to see whether the 2012 data iting fertilizer use, picking up after pets, for individual data parameters at each site. show any benefit to water quality from the and discouraging geese all help reduce nu- Crawford Dock, at the far western end of dredging of the breachway in early 2012. trient enrichment of the ponds. Page 10 Page 11 The Tidal Page Winter 2012/2013 Salt Ponds Coalition PO Box 875 Charlestown, RI 02813

It’s time to renew for 2013! Salt Ponds Coalition is a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Gifts to SPC are tax-deductible.

Please Help Us Help the Ponds Please use this form to renew for 2013, and please ask your friends and neighbors to become members, too.

An SPC membership for With your membership, Donations are tax deduct- the 2013 season helps fund you will receive future is- ible and may help reduce protection of the ponds. sues of the Tidal Page. the tax you owe. Salt Ponds Please make checks payable to Salt Ponds Coalition. Salt Ponds Coalition also accepts donations of stocks. Memberships run from January through December. Coalition

$40 - $74 Contributing Name: P.O. Box 875 $75 - $149 Supporting Permanent Address Charlestown, RI 02813 $150 - $249 Sustaining Town State Zip 401-322-3068 $250 - $499 Advocate Summer Address Town State Zip We $500 - $999 Steward appreciate $1000 - $2499 Benefactor Email your $2500+ Patron Phone continued generous Check here if you would like an SPC hat with your membership of $250+ I would like to sponsor a testing station for $600 support! Abby Aukerman Scholarship Fund $ Donation to the Please help us fund this worthwhile scholarship, which helps support a deserving undergraduate student in marine studies at URI. If you would like to make a contribution to the scholarship fund, please use the form Aukerman Scholarship Fund above and fill in the amount of your gift at left.