This restoration project promises to help restore
the ecological health of the Nonesuch River, a 247-acre subwatershed
of the 3,100-acre Scarborough Marsh.
Problem
The Nonesuch River salt marsh has been negatively impacted
by old hayroads and man-made drainage ditches that cut across
the marsh, starving the marsh of needed tidal waters. In part
because of the lack of tidal flow, multiple stands of non-native
Phragmites have
been invading sections of the Nonesuch River salt marsh.
Restoration Goal
The Nonesuch River salt marsh restoration work included four
main components:
1) breaching the old hayroads at strategic locations,
2) plugging ditches to improve hydrology and associated
ecological functions on the marsh, 3) treating the Phragmites
stands to minimize the threat of broad-scale invasion, and
4) conducting pre-restoration monitoring in 2005 and continuing
with post-restoration monitoring through 2010.
Status - Completed
Thanks to the financial, technical and biological support
of all of our partners, this restoration project, which was
completed in April or 2007, promises to hold marvelous benefits
by controlling invasive species and re-establishing high value
natural habitat for fish and wildlife that frequent the marsh.
