Current Projects

Climate Change Impacts & Adaptations
Phragmites australis Eradication Pilot Project
Greenscapes North Shore
Trees and Forests for a Healthy Watershed
North River System - Salem and Peabody
Marine Sanitation - Clean Water for Boating
Peabody St. Park on the South River
Anadromous Fish Run Restoration
Coastsweep
Manchester Coastal Stream Team

For more information or to get involved contact Barbara Warren.

Long-Term Monitoring Programs

Adopt a Beach Program
The beaches of Salem Sound are a treasured resource. They are the buffer between the land and the sea. Protecting our beaches will safeguard water quality, public health, coastal habitats and precious marine resources. SSCW has received funding from the Massachusetts Environmental Trust to create an Adopt a Beach program in which community-based volunteers will form a team and adopt a beach. The team members will function as beachkeepers with a year-round presence. They will be charged with monitoring, identifying issues of concern and working with SSCW and the municipality to improve the quality of their adopted beach. To learn more....

Coastal Habitat Invasive Monitoring Program
The presence of nonindigneous, invasive species or "bioinvaders" has emerged as one of the leading environmental and economic threats to our coastal area. To develop effective management policies and identify locations of highest risk, we must first collect information on the current locations, abundance and characteristics of these species along our shores. To do this, we need the help of volunteers--individuals who are willing to learn more about these species and then take their knowledge into the field, making periodic visits to a rocky shoreline or floating dock to observe and record the presence of these species. Ongoing training will cover species identification, survey techniques and the pathways of introductions. Contact us if you are interested in taking part in our Coastal Habitat Invasives Monitoring Program.

Salem Sound Coastwatch Adopt-A-Tidepool program has been incorporated into the Coastal Habitat Invasives Monitoring Program. Volunteers will help us focus special attention on local tidepools and catalog the diversity of both native and invasive species. This information will be passed on to scientists working on strategies to address marine invasive species.

Clean Beaches and Streams
The goals of the Clean Beaches and Streams Program are to keep the public from exposure to water pollution at area beaches by: 1) providing education on the health threats linked to bacterial contaminated water; 2) increasing water quality monitoring; and 3) partnering with local Boards of Health and Departments of Public Works to identify, post, and fix pollution problems. To read more about the program and what you can do to be part of the solution, check out "Making the Stormwater Connection". From June to September, trained volunteers take water samples from streams and outfall pipes as they empty out on to our coastal beaches. Test results for 2003 through 2009 are available on this web page, as well as a link to the Mass. Dept. of Public Health website to learn of beach closures.

Volunteer Wetland Health Assessment Toolbox

Salem Sound Coastwatch developed the Wetland Health Assessment Toolbox with scientists from the Massachusetts Bays Program and Massachusetts Coastal Zone Management Office. SSCW trains volunteer citizens to assess the health of regional wetlands using WHAT. This toolbox provides protocols to assess wetland health by measuring seven parameters: birds, fish, plants, water chemistry, land use, tidal hydrology, and benthic macroinvertebrates.
Over 200 volunteers have been trained to date, and we have monitored North Shore salt marsh systems since 1999 to evaluate salt marsh restorations.

Upper Mill River Clam Survey

Salem Sound Coastwatch is conducting a benthic survey to monitor change in the Mill River inter-tidal zone (formerly an impoundment) after the opening of the tidegate. The first sampling took place in October 2008 with repeat monitoring to take place in the fall of 2009 and 2010. Findings in 2008 and 2009 are encouraging. By aging the soft shell clams, it is apparent that colonization occurred as soon as the tide gate was opened in 2004.


Current Projects

Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation
Our climate is changing. Sea level rose over 7 inches in the last 100 years along our coast. Ocean temperatures have warmed by 3 degrees F in parts of New England in the last 50 years while surface water salinity is getting fresher. How will our communities and ecosystems adapt to changes that are already in the works?

Good planning takes into account that the future will be different than the past and needs to incorporate different information which includes future climate change projections. More than ever adaptative management will be necessary now and itnot the future.

As a Regional Coordinator for the Mass Bays Program, SSCW is a partner in EPA's Climate Ready Estuaries pilot program with the Massachusetts Bays National Estuary Program. Salem Sound Coastwatch will provide a local community link between federal, state and municipal entities, as we learn how communities along the coast can prepare for climate change.

Phragmites Removal Study

Phragmites australis Eradication Pilot Project -Pickman Park, Salem
Phragmites australis is a serious threat to wetlands. Phragmites invasions often begin as small stands at the edge of wetlands. Controlling emerging stands may help reduce the spread of the invasive common reed.

Protecting the remaining salt marshes of Salem Sound is critical for the ecological health of the Sound. Two-thirds of the Sound’s salt marshes were lost between 1965 and 1998. Salem Sound’s remaining 65 acres (30 acres of which are in the Forest River system) are predominately small or fringe salt marshes in close proximity to roads, homes, and influxes of freshwater and sediment runoff, locations where Phragmites finds it easy to establish.

The goal of this project is to document methods to control small stands of Phragmites, to involve college students in environmental research, and to share Phragmites control information with conservation agents/commissions and private landowners.

Greenscapes North Shore
Greenscapes are landscapes that look great, require little maintenance, are environmentally- friendly, and save water too! Check out our new Greenscapes program and find out about presentations in the region on how to be a Greenscaper in your own backyard.

The Greenscapes Massachusetts Coalition, led by the Massachusetts Bays Estuary Association, is a diverse group of organizations that collectively implement the GreenscapesTM program in their respective geographic regions across Massachusetts.

Salem Sound Coastwatch has joined with two other regional organizations to bring the program to the North Shore. We partner with local municipalities and nurseries to bring Greenscaping practices to you.

Trees and Forests for a Healthy Watershed
For the first time, SSCW, with this project, has focused attention on the value and importance of community trees and forests for stormwater management and watershed health. The first project mapped the watershed for potential priority areas for conservation, restoration and stormwater management. We involved the watershed communities and the various stakeholders, to build cooperation and support for future action-oriented forest protection and stewardship of a valuable and limited resource in this urbanized, coastal watershed and make the connection between trees reduce runoff and help maintain a healthier watershed.

Next through a grant from DCR and assistance from MA Riverways, we took a closer look at the Greater North River System. We are in the process of adding a new tree link that will be updated with more information soon.