The Salt Ponds Coalition has just released this very interesting video about recently completed Ninigret Pond dredging and marsh restoration project in Charlestown, R.I.
Partners of this restoration program, conducted by the environmental services and marine construction firm J.F. Brennan, included Salt Ponds Coalition, Save the Bay, Coastal Resources Management Services, Towns of Charlestown and Westerly, RI, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
The crews dredged the areas within the Charlestown Breachway and then reused that material on the adjacent Ninigret salt marsh to increase its elevation to make it more resilient to the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.
The goals of the project were to preserve the functions of the existing salt marsh making it more resilient to future sea level rise, to slow the entry of sediment into the pond and to improve navigation by creating a deeper breachway channel.