Salt Ponds of Rhode Island

Restoring the Ponds Pond Profiles In recent years, numerous towns, citi- 1. Point Judith Pond is the only pond whose permanent breachway is dredged Salt Ponds of zens, academic institutions, nonprofit orga- regularly by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The breachway is maintained to accom- modate Rhode Island’s fishing fleet, one of the most modern in New England. Also, the nizations, and governmental agencies have state’s most intensively fished recreational shellfish area is located in this pond along the started to focus on the restoration of Rhode Island escape road from Galilee. Rhode Island salt ponds through projects such as eelgrass bed renewal, anadromous 2. Potter Pond, the deepest of the ponds, was formerly called Fish Pond because of fish run restoration, and wastewater treat- its abundant fish stock. Stone walls built to close off smaller coves to create fish pounds A glance at a map of Rhode Island will show a series ment improvement. Much of this collabora- can still be seen in the pond. Potter Pond’s tidal inlet connects to Point Judith Pond rather than directly to the sea. of coastal lagoons (locally called salt ponds) lying tive effort was prompted by the January behind narrow barrier beaches along the state’s ocean 1996 North Cape oil spill which released 3. Trustom Pond, a National Wildlife Refuge, is the only coastal pond free from shore. This type of coastline is common along the U.S. 828,000 gallons of home heating oil shoreline development. Boating, swimming, and fishing are prohibited. Some 300 bird Atlantic and Gulf coasts, as well as along low-lying directly off the coast of Rhode Island, species, including the protected piping plover and least tern, seasonally inhabit the harming the water birds and juvenile refuge. seaboards the world over. lobster and shellfish of the salt ponds. 4. Cards Pond receives a significant supply of fresh water from Moonstone Stream, A glimpse at the ponds themselves will reveal the The pristine salt ponds that the an- and its breachway is only intermittently open to the sea. These factors keep the salinity cient Indians once used for their settle- low. Parts of this pond are included in the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge. many critical functions that the salt pond system ments and food supply may never exist performs, including providing habitat for commercial again. However, with the continued determi- 5. Ninigret Pond, the largest of the salt ponds, is used for a variety of recreational and recreational finfish and shellfish, serving as nation of citizen volunteers, careful adher- activities as well as oyster and quahog aquaculture. Extensive archaeological remains are resting and feeding stops for migrating waterfowl, found on its shores. Its barrier beach is protected from development by several wildlife ence to the SAMP, and the completion of refuges. and offering residents and visitors recreational various restoration efforts, the obstacles opportunities. currently threatening the salt pond region 6. Green Hill Pond has a densely developed residential shoreline. Its tidal inlet con- can be overcome. nects to Ninigret Pond. Fresh water flows into the pond from both Factory Brook and Teal Brook. Both Green Hill and Ninigret ponds supported productive oyster spawning A closer look will also identify the numerous areas until a total oyster mortality was sustained in the late 1990s, possibly due to disease. pressures threatening the salt pond ecosystem: increasing residential development, bacterial contamination, 7. Quonochontaug Pond, or “Quonnie” for short, is the most saline pond and algal blooms, and the decline of certain fisheries. one of the deepest. Its south shore supports one of the largest and most pristine salt marshes in Rhode Island. The pond’s western barrier beach, although privately owned, remains undeveloped. 8. Winnapaug Pond has one of the more densely developed shorelines, with a con- centration of hotels, restaurants, and amusement rides adjacent to Misquamicut State Pond Facts Beach on the pond’s southern shore. Rhode Island’s coastal ponds exist on both sides of Narragansett Bay, as 9. Maschaug Pond is a small, brackish pond not permanently connected to the sea. well as on Aquidneck Island and Block Island. However, the nine ponds on the Much of the pond is bordered by a golf course. Partly privately owned, Maschaug pond is a haven for wildlife and waterfowl. west side of the Bay have been the most thoroughly studied and are the focus of this report. All nine ponds are shallow, with an average depth of 3.9 feet, and range in size from 40 to 1,700 acres. The salt pond watershed covers 32 square miles, and includes the towns of Westerly, Charlestown, South Kingstown, and 2 4 1 Narragansett. The salinities of the ponds depend on the amount of fresh water 3 6 entering the pond. Three of the ponds—Point Judith, Cards, and Green Hill— 5 have significant streams flowing into them. For the others, groundwater and 7 surface runoff are the principal sources of fresh water. 9 8 Written by Eleanor Ely (1990). Updated by Amanda Argentieri (2002). With thanks to Virginia Lee. Additional copies available from the Rhode Island Sea Grant College Program, University of Rhode Island Narragansett Bay Campus, Narragansett, RI 02882-1197. Order P 1408. http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu. Price $2. Printed on recycled paper. © 2002 Formation of the People and Life in the Development in the Pollution in the Protecting salt ponds the ponds salt ponds salt pond region salt ponds the ponds Salt ponds are formed and continu- When humans first began to settle in In spite of the loss of a number of Like coastal areas all over the Except for the village of Wakefield A group of citizens came together ously reformed by the interaction of the Northeast, they established a permanent brackish-water (slightly salty water) fish- country, the salt pond region has seen and the port of Galilee, the majority of in 1985 to stave off the degradation of the coastal processes, including erosion, sedi- village on the edges of a salt pond. Archae- eries, such as alewife and oysters, due to both increased tourism and rapid residen- the pond region is not sewered. Instead, ponds. These volunteer Salt Pond Watchers, ment transport, and gradually rising sea ologists believe this village, set up on Block permanent breaching, the ponds today tial growth since the real estate boom of residents use individual sewage disposal originally sponsored by Sea Grant, moni- level. As the ocean waters rise—a phe- Island’s Great Salt Pond by ancestors of the are still highly productive and popular the mid-1980s. In the 10 years from 1990 systems (ISDS) for sewage treatment. In tor and observe the south shore ponds nomenon under way since the last Ice Manissean Indians, may have been the first fishing grounds. Recreationally fished to 2000, the average population of the some cases inadequate, antiquated, or and provide policy makers with scientific Age—they spill into depressions in the year-round settlement in the Northeast. species include summer flounder, striped four towns surrounding the salt ponds in- poorly maintained sewage disposal systems data about water quality, bacteria levels, landscape, creating shallow estuaries. Additional early human activity existed in bass, winter flounder, shad, white perch, creased by 12.5 percent, nearly three times allow wastewater to contaminate ground- and contaminants for pond-use and land- Meanwhile, longshore currents transport the form of a fishing encampment created mackerel, and tautog. Among shellfish, the state’s growth. Charlestown grew the water. Moreover, even a properly main- use decisions. Sponsorship of the nation- sand eroded from wave-battered head- by Indians on the west side of Potter Pond quahog is by far the most common spe- most, by 21 percent. tained septic system contributes nitrate to ally recognized Salt Pond Watchers was lands—higher, more durable points along between 3,000 and 2,500 years ago. What cies recreationally collected in the ponds, Commercial development has also the groundwater. As residential develop- transferred to the Salt Ponds Coalition in the coast—and deposit it in low-lying made these early camps and villages unique but (depending on the pond and the been extensive, particularly around Point ment increases and more and more septic 1993. areas. As the sand accumulates, it forms a was the existence of their thriving maritime season) steamers, blue mussel, and bay Judith Pond, which has the village of systems are constructed in a limited geo- Both local and state governments barrier spit, or beach, that separates the economy 1,500 years before the first known scallop may also be found. Commercially Wakefield at its head and Galilee, Rhode graphic area, nitrate contamination could have also made efforts to manage develop- pond from the ocean waters. agricultural settlement in the area. fished species include quahog, steamers, Island’s largest fishing port, at its mouth. become a significant problem. ment and pollution. In the mid-1980s, a In most cases, a tidal inlet, or In later years, the Narragansett Indi- oyster, eel, bay scallop, and mussel. In And the number of tourist-related busi- Nitrate from both septic systems Special Area Management Plan (SAMP) breachway, is created by either storm ans utilized the many resources of the pond addition, green crab is harvested specifi- nesses, such as hotels, shops, and restau- and lawn fertilizers contributes to eutro- for the salt pond region was adopted and waves washing over the sand spit or from during the summer months to fish for food cally for the bait industry, while blue rants, is increasing throughout the salt phication, a process that occurs when a implemented by the Rhode Island Coastal the pressure of fresh water swelling the and gather quahog for wampum—purple crab is harvested recreationally.

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