
Programs
and Projects
Long-Term Monitoring Programs
Adopt
a Beach Program
Coastal Habitat Invasives Monitoring Program
Clean Beaches & Streams Program
Salt Marsh - Wetland Health Assessment
Upper Mill River Clam Survey, Gloucester
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
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.
In the spring of 2006, SSCW reestablished ten stream teams to survey the North River and Peabody brooks, engaged graduate students from the Tufts Universtity Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning to research the river's recovery, and held its 4th annual North River Awareness Week. To read the reports and learn more about proposed next steps, please read on.
Marine
Sanitation - Clean Water for Boating
As a result of some hard work by a partnership of harbormasters, boaters,
municipalities and SSCW, Salem Sound received a "No Discharge Area "
designation from EPA New England in June 2008.
Salem Sound Coastwatch Marine Sanitation Needs Assessment for Salem Sound was completed In 2005, we mailed an anonymous questionnaire to yacht club members, marina customers, and individual boaters with mooring permits in Salem Harbor, Beverly Harbor, Bass River, Danvers River, Waters River, Porter River and Crane River.
SSCW's 2005 Salem Sound Marine Sanitation Needs Assessment evaluated the marine sanitation practices of vessels to develop a better understanding of boater knowledge and behavior, an evaluation of the current pumpout facilities, and the obstacles experienced by recreational boaters, commercial vessels and facility operators. SSCW will continue to wor with the boating community to implement study recommendations .
Peabody
St. Park on the South River
A
team of Tufts University graduate students of Urban and Environmental Policy
and Planning worked with SSCW, the City of Salem Dep. of Planning and Community
Development, and the Salem community to design a future park along the South
River. The park will join the Point Neighborhood with the South River Harbor
Walk and downtown Salem. The Final Report helped
the City of Salem receive EPA funding to clean up the contamination at 15
Peabody St., the first step to making the park, and then the City received
an Urban Self-Help grant of $474,000 from the State to fund the construction
of the Park.
AND MORE NEWS!! Tufts students win a national design award.
Anadromous
Fish Run Restoration
Together with
Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), Salem Sound Coastwatch continues
to work to restore smelt spawning habitat on
the North River in Salem and Peabody and in Sawmill
Brook in Manchester. For the latest smelt
count on the North River , check out this Salem News story. For the past
two years, the 5th graders of Witchcraft Heights have joined us at the North
River to learn about smelts. These projects have received support from numerous
partners including the FishAmerica Foundation, Five Star Restoration Grants
Program, National Marine Fisheries Service, the communities of Salem,
Peabody, and Manchester, and many volunteers! Check SSCW's calendar
for North River Awareness Week in the spring.
More information: Rainbow smelt (Osmerus
mordax) spawning habitat on the Gulf of Maine coast of Massachusetts.
2006 Mass. DMF. Report TR-30.
Coastsweep
The Coastsweep program is an international event that
encourages
users to clean up their local beaches and to become local stewards by building
awareness. Join us for our annual Coastsweep
2010 next
September. Contact us at info@salemsound.org for more information.
Manchester
Coastal Stream Team
With
help from Salem Sound Coastwatch, local citizens of Manchester by the Sea
formed the Manchester Coastal Stream Team (MCST). MCST has undertaken
many successful projects including water quality monitoring, publication and
distribution of three educational brochures, removal of purple loosestrife
from Dexter Pond, clean up of Sawmill Brook, coordination of dam openings
for the Spring smelt run, and much more!
Upcoming Events.
If you would like to get involved, please email Manchestercoastal@yahoo.com
.