Assessment of Critical Land in the Winnetuxet River Corridor in Plympton Resilient Taunton Watershed Network (RTWN) Eric J. Walberg, AICP, Climate Services Director, Manomet, Inc. Neil Williams, Applied Forest Scientist, Manomet, Inc. Sara Burns, Water Resource Scientist, TNC Marea Gabriel, Conservation Projects Manager, TNC Danica Warns, Climate Resilience Coordinator, Mass Audubon Bill Napalitano, Director of Environmental Programs SRPEDD Helen Zincavage, Assistant Director of Environmental Programs, SRPEDD Courtney Rocha, Southeastern Regional Coordinator, MVP Program RTWN Members Bridgewater State University The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Horsley Witten Group Old Colony Planning Council (OCPC) Manomet Inc. Save the Bay MA Department of Environmental Southeastern Regional Planning and Protection (DEP) Economic Development District MA Division of Ecological Restoration (SRPEDD) (DER) Taunton River Watershed Alliance MA Executive Office of Energy and (TRWA) Environmental Affairs (EEA) Tighe & Bond Mass Audubon US Environmental Protection Agency Metropolitan Area Planning Council (EPA) (MAPC) National Park Service Narragansett Bay Estuary Program Wildlands Trust srpedd.org/rtwn Climate Change Impacts in the Taunton River Watershed . What we’ve been through and what’s predicted to come Integrating Climate Resiliency and Green Infrastructure into Prioritization of Open Space Acquisition Examples of Study Strategies • Identifying and protecting vulnerable areas containing critical green infrastructure and habitat • Restoring natural river function/processes • Reclaiming and enhancing Floodplain • Protecting areas of productive and carbon critical soils • Repurposing portions of the built environment while integrating the resiliency built into the natural environment Consistency with our Community Plans: What have we said about protecting land in Plympton, and how can we do it? What Plympton’s Open Space and Recreation Plan says about protection and preservation Section 7.1 Protection of significant parcels within the BioMap 2 Critical Landscape and Core Habitat designations to help protect Plympton’s extensive wetlands, forests and riparian corridors and the natural services they provide. Section 8, Goal 2: • Protect and preserve Plympton’s natural resources, including water and unique wildlife habitats, for the benefit of present and future generations. Objective 2A: In the Taunton River Watershed area of Town, especially near the Winnetuxet River, evaluate the natural infrastructure services provided by Critical Natural Landscap#465, one of the largest in the state, as well as by the Core Habitat #798, in order to develop a land protection and management plan for this area . • Objective 2B: Identify and protect high priority lands through acquisition, easements and restrictions to preserve natural resources, healthy ecosystems and biodiversity and to maintain functioning ecological connections • Objective 2D: Evaluate and update as needed Plympton’s current Watershed Protection Districts for their contributions to maintaining the groundwater table, protecting against floods and contamination, preserving streams and conserving watershed areas • Objective 2C: Based on BioMap 2, protect unique habitats and natural communities to support state listed Animal and Plant species • Objective 2E: Promote the adoption of updated planning and zoning bylaws to ensure that future residential and commercial development in Plympton effectively integrates growth with natural resource preservation Winnetuxet River Watershed Study Area • Important resources facing many threats • Between 2012 and 2017, Plympton had the 5th highest rate of development, by percentage of land converted, in the Commonwealth (Mass Audubon, Losing Ground, 2020) • Contains some of the most significant, intact habitat and wildlife corridors in the Commonwealth Addressing Our Plans Through: • Preserving our Green Infrastructure • Preserving our Critical Habitat • Preserving our healthy and productive soils • Reviewing our local regulations to make sure that we are promoting our land use goals and accommodating nature based solutions What is Green Infrastructure? Green Infrastructure (GI): A network of waterways, wetlands, woodlands, wildlife habitats, and other natural areas that support native species, maintain natural ecological processes, sustain air and water resources and contribute to health and quality of life. (McDonald, Benedict and O’Conner, 2005). Types of Green Infrastructure Features • Undeveloped riparian corridors – a mix of wetland and upland features • Wetlands complexes • Forested upland Green Infrastructure Solutions • Strategic protection and restoration of natural features to: – Limit peak runoff rates and volumes – Retain and maximize natural resiliency – Limit new development in flood prone areas – Maximize local groundwater recharge – Maintain ecological viability – High quality of life for citizens 20 Manomet’s GI Network Mapping Legend Taunton Watershed Boundary Streams Town Boundaries Land Use/Land Cover Open (Ag; Bare; Non-forest vegetation) Commercial/Industrial/High Dens Res Low Density Residential Forest (incl. Forested Wetland) Wetland Water Cranberry Bog Major Routes, by Administrative Type Interstate U.S. Highway State Route Habitat Surface Resilience Water Protection Green Infrastructure Network Resilient Landscape s Complex topography + Connected natural cover + High quality biodiversity features Resilient Landscapes Areas of Above Average Resilience Green Infrastructure Network Components… Areas of Above Average Resilience BioMap2: Core & Critical Natural Landscape Green Infrastructure Network Components… Areas of Above Average Resilience BioMap2 Core & Critical Natural Landscape Surface Water, Wetlands, & Flood Areas Legend Taunton Watershed Boundary Town Boundaries 100-yr and High Risk Coastal Flood Areas Surface Waters & Wetlands Freshwater Pond, Lake, or Stream Freshwater Wetland Estuarine and Marine Deepwater Estuarine and Marine Wetland Other Riparian/ Flood Zone Buffers Legend Taunton Watershed Boundary Town Boundaries Areas within 100ft of surface waters, wetlands, and flood zones 100-yr and High Risk Coastal Flood Areas Surface Waters & Wetlands Freshwater Pond, Lake, or Stream Freshwater Wetland Estuarine and Marine Deepwater Estuarine and Marine Wetland Other Green Infrastructure Network Components… Areas of Above Average Resilience BioMap2 Core & Critical Natural Landscape Areas within 100ft of Surface Waters, Wetlands, and Flood Zones; Areas </= 4m elevation (vulnerable to sea level rise) Green Infrastructure Network Components… Areas of Above Average Resilience BioMap2 Core & Critical Natural Landscape Areas within 100ft of Surface Waters, Wetlands, and Flood Zones; Areas </= 4m elevation (vulnerable to sea level rise) Taunton 44% of the Taunton Watershed watershed is Green within the GI Infrastructure Network Network Taunton 66% of the GI Watershed Network is Undeveloped currently & Unprotected undeveloped and Green unprotected. Infrastructure Network Taunton This represents Watershed 30% of the Undeveloped entire watershed & Unprotected area. Green Infrastructure Network Retention of Healthy Soils Soil health is defined by the UDSA NRCS as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. This definition provides the foundation for SRPEDD’s soil retention work. Healthy soils will vary for different ecosystems and by different soil types ... Chart below:Bunemann et al., Soil Biology & Biochem 2018 Healthy Soil Functions • Erosion resistance • Water infiltration, filtration, and storage • Nutrient retention and cycling • Carbon sequestration • Provide habitat for organisms within and above the soil surface • Support growth of native and valuable plants • Breakdown harmful chemicals • Suppression of pathogens and weeds Mapping Nature Based‐Solutions for Climate Resilience: Developing Potential Implementation Actions The TNC tool can help guide implementation of NBS by looking at how inland flood, coastal flood, and drought hazards overlap with opportunities for nature‐based solutions. Nature based solutions (NBS) and low impact development (LID) are actions or strategies that conserve, restore, and/or manage GI Bylaw Review Why? • Are your resilience goals reflected in your bylaws? • If so, how? • If not, what might barriers be? How? • Review existing bylaws • Identify conventional vs. best practices • Develop informed recommendations • Identify administrative vs. town meeting changes Mass Audubon’s Bylaw Review Tool The way that we plan and zone will help to determine how we grow and how resilient that we are as a community The Project: Planning with You . TASK December 2020 – June 2021 Deliveraables 1. Steering Committee Meetings 4‐5 Monthly Meetings 4‐5 Meetings and notes 2. Community Outreach Prep all materials / logistics for 6‐8 Project meetings, special print, digital, and in‐person topic meetings, trainings; all platforms for all monthly project associated digital and hard copy and special topic meetings and materials project related trainings 3. Data Collection and Synthesis Gather all necessary data for Assessments of the critical plan, identify critical features in features of the study area for the assessment of collected data draft recommendations from print and field work 4. Bylaw Review Training Exercise ‐ MAS Training in the MAS Bylaw MAS Bylaw Review Training Review Tool –how to review LID and Green Infrastructure provisions and needs