Watershed Report Shows Narragansett Bay Improvements But Not Enough

The Narraganset Bay Watershed report shows that the bay is getting healthier although urban areas still have much work to do.

The urban areas around Providence and Southeastern Massachusetts have made improvements, as have individual towns along the Bay and watershed, but more comprehensive work is going to need to be done in order for the health of the bay to improve significantly in the next few years.

Projects like the renovated pier in Pawtucket and removing damns in Taunton have both helped the watershed, but the problems in the bay are too great to be solved individually.

The urban areas along the bay are unsurprisingly the biggest problem areas, due to oil and grease from cars and buses, chemicals and fertilizers from lawns and landscapes, road salt, bacteria for pet waste, and trash in gutters.

The EPA has also helped in the fight to get and keep the bay healthy and clean, distributing grants and funding projects to get the water to a safe level.

The problems with the bay do not just effect swimming for humans but also the life and safety of the animals who live inside the water. Low dissolved oxygen, which animals need to survive underwater is a problem that the Narragansett Bay commission will be trying to solve with a Combined Sewer Overflow abatement project, which will cost about $1billion dollars and affect bay and the Seekonk River.

Overall the Bay is in better condition than it was last year, but nearly as healthy as scientists and researchers would like it to be.