Author: Joe Costa

Buzzards Bay salt marsh study underway

Posted on October 4, 2019November 18, 2022 by Joe Costa

Salt marshes in Buzzards Bay provide a vital role by providing habitat, regulating water quality, and stabilizing coastlines. In recent years, many coastal towns have experienced the degradation or loss of their salt marshes. In order to better understand and halt this trend, the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program and the Buzzards Bay Coalition, in partnership with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, are collaborating on a long-term study of salt marsh loss around Buzzards Bay.

Monitoring and tracking changes over many years within a dozen selected salt marshes will improve our understanding of the causes of marsh loss. In particular, we are focusing on how climate change, pollution, and changes in the abundance of certain crab species may be affecting our salt marshes. Using transects, which are defined paths our team will follow through the marsh on every visit, information will be collected on the height, abundance, and species of vegetation, as well what species of shellfish and crab live there. Elevations will also be taken as a means of monitoring how well area salt marshes are adapting to sea level rise. The monitoring program has been designed to minimize impacts and disturbance of the marsh study sites. The results of this work will help town officials and state and federal mangers develop possible mitigation strategies to protect and restore salt marshes.

Work being undertaken

Six activities are planned as part of this long-term salt marsh loss monitoring study:

1) We will install elevation survey benchmarks. The NEP is the lead on this task. These benchmarks will either be brass markers installed in boulders or in concrete bridge abutments or other structures, or they will be a stainless steel rod driven into the ground, surrounded by a concrete tube with a lid, flush to the ground;

2) Transect markers will be installed in the marsh. These consist of white PVC pipe or other markers. The markers will be reference points for transects to measure elevation and vegetation types within the marsh;

3) Along these marsh transects, we will monitor elevation, vegetation, and other features one or two times per year. The NEP with assistance from MMA students will undertake the elevation surveys. The Buzzards Bay Coalition will undertake the vegetation and fauna surveys. These annual surveys may continue for many years;

4) We will conduct a crab population survey periodically with traps to document the species of crabs common to each marsh and their abundance;

5) We will install sensors on a temporary staff in a tidal creek to document tidal elevation; and

6) Periodically, using volunteers, we will document the elevation of the High Tide Line during different tidal and weather conditions.

If you have questions or would like additional information about this study, please contact: Joe Costa at (508) 291-3625 x11 or email joe.costa@mass.gov. More information about the project can be found at this Buzzards Bay Coalition post.

Update:

On October 11, Restore America’s Estuaries and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $1.2 million in funding to six local partnerships in Massachusetts through the Southeast New England Program (SNEP) Watershed Grants. Among the grants, the Buzzards Bay Coalition will receive $223,533 for a project to promote salt marsh resilience by supporting research to better understand causes and trends of marsh loss on Buzzards Bay and for pilot-scale restoration activities to preserve threatened marshes.

For more information, see the SNEP grant announcement.

August 2019 QAPP describing methodology used by BBNEP

Buzzards Bay NEP milestones

Posted on July 22, 2019July 22, 2019 by Joe Costa

Last month, Tracy Warncke retired from state service after serving as the Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program’s administrative assistant for thirty years. Prior to joining the NEP, Tracy’s interest in Buzzards Bay water quality began in 1986 when the Town of Bourne began closing shellfish beds due to bacterial contamination. Her husband was a commercial shellfisherman and these closures threatened her family’s welfare. She offered to volunteer for the Board of Health, but they instead hired her to run their water quality monitoring program. During her time with the Board of Health, she served on the Cape Cod Marine Water Quality Task Force and collaborated with Barnstable County Department of Health and the Environment and USGS on several projects including the use of well-point samplers to track bacteria pathways and nutrients from septic systems around Buttermilk Bay. In 1987, she helped with the creation of the non-profit Buzzards Bay Coalition, and was a participant in the first State of the Bay conference.

In 1989, she joined the NEP in an administrative role, however in subsequent years she assisted in a wide range of projects including report and outreach document preparation, purchasing, contract management, organizing workshops, water quality sampling, and website management. Tracy was always a valuable asset when managing calls and questions to the NEP offices from concerned residents on any issue, answering their questions or directing callers to the appropriate state agency or town department.

In May, Ann Rodney similarly retired from the U.S. EPA after 30 years of services, including acting as the NEP’s project officer during the last eight years. Prior to that work, Ann had worked in guiding the first boat no-discharge zone in Buzzards Bay during the 1990s, and also worked in the EPA grants office and Regional Administrators office, often on Buzzards Bay issues.

At the May Buzzards Bay Action Committee meeting, both Tracy and Ann received a certificate of appreciation in their longtime service to the protection and restoration of Buzzards Bay. Thank you Tracy and Ann for your dedicated work over the last 30 years. You will be missed. Good luck and enjoy your retirement.

Buzzards Bay NEP Awards Grants to Protect Habitat and Water Quality

Posted on June 12, 2019June 17, 2019 by Joe Costa

On June 7, The Buzzards Bay NEP announced, through EEA and MCZM, $95,419 in federal grant awards for land protection and water quality projects in the Buzzards Bay watershed. The funding will help the Towns of Rochester and Gosnold protect critical habitat and allow the Town of Mattapoisett and its partner, the Buzzards Bay Coalition, to continue important water quality monitoring in Buzzards Bay. The three grants are being matched by $79,540 in private contributions and in-kind services that will support the protection of important habitat in the region.

The Town of Rochester, and its partner the Rochester Land Trust, will receive $45,000 to purchase and permanently protect 20.9 acres of undeveloped land in the Mattapoisett River aquifer, which provides drinking water to four communities in the Buzzards Bay watershed. The property, which is mostly wooded with a perennial stream, contains designated habitat for rare species. Once acquired, the land will be owned and managed by the Rochester Land Trust, which will provide access to the public for passive recreational activities.

The Town of Mattapoisett, and its partner the Buzzards Bay Coalition, will receive $30,000 to continue the Baywatchers monitoring program, which measures nutrient pollution in Buzzards Bay. For 27 years, this long-term monitoring program has collected basic water quality, nutrient, and algal pigment information at over 200 locations around Buzzards Bay during the summer months. The program also educates the public on their local water quality. The data collected is used by both state and local natural resource managers to make informed water quality related decisions.

The Town of Gosnold, and its partner the Buzzards Bay Coalition, will receive $20,419 toward the permanent protection of over 300 acres of undeveloped land on the island of Cuttyhunk. The funding will help match other state grants to acquire and protect 79 acres of privately owned, undeveloped land and secure a permanent conservation restriction on approximately 230 additional donated acres. The project area contains designated habitat for rare species. This project will also protect more than five miles of coastal shoreline and the island’s only drinking water supply.

See this EEA press release for more information.