We're grateful that Newport is working with us @savethebayri.bsky.social to deploy oil absorbent socks w/sand bags and/or hay bales to try and prevent meltwater from the snow pile at Easton's from carrying litter and petrochemicals onto the beach and into the water.
Premiering on Fri @ 8pm is Episode One: Secrets of the Seagrass, the first part in a series highlighting Rhode Island coastal ecosystems & the vital role they play in our lives and our state. @savethebayri.bsky.social is proud to be a conservation partner in this series and looks forward to watching
Waterkeepers supporting Waterkeepers! This week, Save The Bay's Narragansett Baykeeper and Riverkeeper teamed up for a watershed project in Middleborough MA! @narrabaykeeper.bsky.social @nbriverkeeper.bsky.social
At 7pm, tonight's 6pm semi-monthly CRMC full council meeting was cancelled due to lack of quorum. After waiting for an hour, the full house of applicants will now have to wait until next month to have their applications heard.
The shenanigans continue
As of 7/1, in-the-water demo began on underwater portions of the piers of the the Washington Bridge. We have observed containation booms floating above underwater turbidity curtains to mitigate suspended sediment during work.
We'll continue to maintain a presence on the water and in the air.
Use discretion & check available resources when engaging in aquatic activities after rain events. Please keep in mind, these results are days old, and don't represent current conditions. Lots of things can quickly change the bacterial concentration in the water, particularly large rain events.
Catching up posting bacterial data for SW Aquidneck Island & the PVD River & Upper Bay. Sorry for the delay.
W/rain Tues night, elevated results Wed morning on Aquidneck Island aren't surprising. Also, and surprisingly, Rocky Pt. continues to be high. Maybe something for us to look into deeper.
Remember, these results are now two & three days old at the time of posting, and do not represent current conditions at each location. Lots of things can quickly change the bacterial concentration in the water, particularly large rains, like the rain on this past Saturday and Monday before testing.
A map of the Providence River and upper Narragansett Bay with pins showing the five locations monitored for Enterococcus bacteria. Bold Point Park and Stillhouse Cover are red. Fields Point and Gaspee Point are yellow, and Rocky Point is green.
A map of Newport, RI with pins showing the six locations monitored for Enterococcus bacteria. Elm St. Pier, Perrotti Park, and Easton's Stream are red, Marine Ave is yellow, and Van Zandt Pier and Rejects Beach are green
Another week of bacterial monitoring. This week was both our weekly Urban Beach monitoring in the Providence River and upper Bay on June 10, in addition to our biweekly Aquidneck Island Monitoring on June 11.
Please note, these results are four days old at the time of posting, and don't represent current conditions at each location. Many things can change the bacterial concentration in the water, particularly large rain events, like what we experienced on Saturday.
A map of the Providence River and upper Narragansett Bay with pins showing the five locations monitored for Enterococcus bacteria. Bold Point Park, Stillhouse Cove, and Rocky Point Park are yellow. Fields Point and Gaspee Point are green.
Results from our volunteer monitoring for bacteria at five non-licensed swimming locations in the Providence River and upper Bay.
We'll be sampling the upper Bay sites every week and the Aquidneck Island sites every other week.
Remember, these results are two days old, and don't represent current conditions. Lots can change the bacterial concentration, particularly rain events, which we experienced between sampling and posting
A map of Newport, RI with pins showing the six locations monitored for Enterococcus bacteria. Van Zandt Pier and Marine Ave are green, Easton's Stream and Rejects Beach are yellow, Elm St Pier and Perrotti Park are red.
A map of the Providence River and upper Narragansett Bay with pins showing the five locations monitored for Enterococcus bacteria. All sites (Bold Point Park, Fields Point, Stillhouse Cove, Gaspee Point, and Rocky Point Park) are green
Our summer '25 bacterial monitoring season is off! We are sampling six sites on Aquidneck Island and five sites in the Providence River and upper Bay, all are non-licensed swimming locations that are not required to be tested by RIDOH. But we want to provide users with close to real-time data.
Last week I participated in the #InternationalPlasticPelletCount lead by the Waterkeeper Alliance. It's an attempt to collect data on the prevalence & quantity of pre-production plastic pellets called "nurdles" littering our coast. Visit nurdlepatrol.org to view a map of data collected at all sites.
Photo and some quotes by yours truly.
Please remember that even dead whales are still protected by the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act, and while observing the animal is ok, any other interactions are illegal
This #EarthDay, join the fight for #cleanwaterforall! Support Waterkeeper Alliance's global movement by becoming a monthly donor, finding your local Waterkeeper, or sharing this post. Together, we can defend more waterways, stop polluters, and protect lives. ✅
waterkeeper.org/earthdaysust...
With the Baykeeper boat back in the water, @savethebayri.bsky.social is able to be more responsive to on-the-water concerns as they arise. These days, that work involves keeping an eye on the Washington Bridge demolition project as it moves forward.
We continue to be in communication with Rhode Island DEM and the CRMC to ensure that Rhode Island DOT moves forward with proper environmental controls in place for the project that minimize negative impacts to the surrounding habitats
Super excited to have the Narragansett Baykeeper vessel "Seaverge" back in the water and home at the @savethebayri.bsky.social Bay Center in Providence. Ready for the 2025 season patrolling, water quality monitoring, meeting users, and maintaining a presence as the eyes and ears of Narragansett Bay
While I'm unsure of the kind of fluid, we saw no action being taken and my reports at 3pm to @uscg-official.bsky.social, RIDEM, and NCR were, based on my communication with each entity, the first made of the incident and hadn't been reported yet by Vinagro.
I was on scene yesterday at the Washington Bridge demolition where dredging was being performed on debris in the bottom of the Seekonk River. An excavator hose blew leaking hydraulic fluid into the Seekonk. Our observations showed no action being taken and fluid leaking through the containment boom
On the panel were Rhode Island DEM, East Coast Shellfish Grower's Association, Commercial Fisheries Research Foundation, and @savethebayri.bsky.social
@noaa.gov does work and research that promotes hundreds of millions of dollars of revenue in RI and helps keep its citizens safe
Sat in today at the panel discussion held by @magaziner.house.gov hosted by @savethebayri.bsky.social to discuss devastating cuts to @noaa.gov Unfortunate when you have to describe the importance of this vital federal agency to many that utilize its data and may not know it.
Thank you congressman!
We are continuing to keep our eyes on this issue and the ensuing clean up in hopes that no further damage is done to the Seekonk River.
Piling on... another instance of the Council's inability to follow its own rules, this time resulting in the RI Superior Court vacating a decision by the Council.
It's time to support legislation making its way to the General Assembly to dismantle the Council and make a state department. #ReformCRMC
"These are public resources available to all of us." - Chris Dodge
Proud to represent the Narragansett Baykeeper at this time. The Baykeeper has been involved in this work way before I stepped into this position. The whole advocacy team at @savethebayri.bsky.social knocked this one out of the park
Big step in the right direction, but the work's not done. Now it's time for CRMC to move forward with enforcement, let's get this wall torn down and restoration work started.
The bay is a resource for all, not something you can claim and build upon without following the rules
‼️See you at the meeting of the full council next week, where we're hopeful the council takes up the recommendation of its staff and subcommittee to deny a change of water type, ensuring that in the future people can't break the rules, damaging your coastline, and then ask for rule changes after.
@nbriverkeeper.bsky.social and I visited the Palmer River in Swansea, MA. Their desalination plant's discharge permit is up for regular review & public comment. We took salinity readings and general visual inspection of the location.
Saw lots of wildlife using the river!
@savethebayri.bsky.social
