The Bay's health depends on nearly everything that happens in its vast watershed (about 2000 square miles, 60% in Massachusetts and 40% in Rhode Island).
The Bay is on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. Covering 147 mi2 (380 km2) -- 120.5 mi2 (312 km2) in Rhode Island. It is New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor, and includes a small archipelago.
Gansett Bay has thirty islands, the three largest ones are Aquidneck Island, Conanicut Island, and Prudence Island. The East Bay portion has small parts of it extend into Massachusetts. The East Bay consists of the Sakonnet River; Mount Hope Bay; and the southern, tidal part of the Taunton River.
The bay opens on Rhode Island Sound — Block Island lies less than 20 miles southwest of its opening — and the Atlantic Ocean.
The Rhode Island waterway has significance well beyond anything that people can count, but even the numbers are impressive. The Bay's 700 billion gallons of water cover 150 square miles. The watershed nurtures thousands of species of plants, fish, and wildlife as well as more than two million residents and ten million tourists each year.
Its annual contribution to Rhode Island's economy totals billions of dollars. Its environmental and aesthetic value is priceless.
The Seekonk River
It is a tidal extension of the Providence River which flows approximately 5 mi. and connects to the bay at Bold Point Park.
Most historians agree that the name is derived from two Native American words, sucki (meaning black) and honc (meaning goose).
Real time water quality information for the Seekonk River including a blog that is updated weekly is available at http://snapshot.narrabay.com/app
Tributaries of the Seekonk
- Blackstone River
- Ten Mile River
- Bucklin Brook
- Butler Brook
The Providence River
The capital city waterway is a tidal river flowing approximately 8 miles. There are no dams along the river's length, although the Fox Point Hurricane Barrier is located south of downtown, to protect the city of Providence from hurricanes.
The southern part of the river has been dredged at a cost of $65 million in federal and state funds to benefit nearby marinas and commercial shipping interests.
The river is formed by the confluence of the Woonasquatucket and Moshassuck rivers in downtown Providence. One half mile downstream, it is joined from the east by the Seekonk River and continues south.
The cities of Providence, Cranston, and Warwick lie to the west of the river, while the city of East Providence and the town of Barrington lie to the east.
At the narrows between Conimicut Point, in Warwick to the west and Nayatt Point in Barrington to the east, the Conimicut Shoal Lighthouse (http://www.lighthouse.cc/conimicut/) marks the entrance to the river from Narragansett Bay.
What can we do to improve water quality in the Bay?
There are many streams and rivers that flow through our backyards and drain into ponds, lakes, bays and ultimately the ocean.
Pollutants such as animal feces, fertilizer, oil, hazardous waste, road sand, and grease on the land can be washed into our waters, but we can reduce this type of pollution.
Learn about your local waters. Everyone lives in a watershed, which is the drainage area to a local waterbody (think of washing everything in a sink down the drain and the drain is your local river or stream).
Figure out what waters are closest to you and where they flow. Learn about local animal life and plants that live in and around these waters.
Narragansett Bay History
The rise of American industry, beginning in the late 18th century at places like Slater Mill in Pawtucket, R.I., led to large-scale changes of Narragansett Bay's natural habitats. Nearly every river and stream in the watershed was dammed for industrial power; today there are about 500 dams in Rhode Island alone.
As the mills grew, so did urban centers throughout the state-wetlands were filled to expand the cities; railroads and roads were built along the shore; shipping channels and ports were dredged as ships grew larger. Wastewater treatment plants were constructed in Providence in the late 19th century-a great improvement to the city's public health, but one which dumped millions of gallons of polluted wastewater into the Bay each day. World War II took a toll on the Bay's natural habitats, as shoreline areas such as Quonset Point and Melville were developed for military use. In the post-War area, inland and coastal wetlands were filled to build the interstate highway system, marinas were developed and residential construction gobbled up land throughout the watershed.
The result was a drastic decline in Narragansett Bay's fish and wildlife. Bay scallops, for example, are dependent on underwater seagrass for habitat-as water pollution caused seagrasses to decline, the Bay's once-valuable scallop fishery collapsed. Mill dams prevented sea-run migratory fish from returning to their spawning grounds, causing the local extinction of Atlantic salmon and leading to large declines in river herring and American shad. Habitat degradation is believed to be a factor in the collapse of winter flounder populations on Narragansett Bay-particularly thermal pollution and other habitat impacts from the Brayton Point Power Station in Swansea, Mass., as documented by the R.I. Dept. of Environmental Management.
In recent years, new approaches have been developed to help fix these kinds of impacts to coastal habitats, in order to restore fish and wildlife and improve environmental quality-benefiting ecosystems and communities.
The Narragansett Bay Estuary Program is a leader in habitat restoration on Narragansett Bay-working with state, federal and non-governmental partners to restore rivers, wetlands, seagrass beds and other natural aspects of the Bay's ecosystem. Read full article and about ongoing projects. http://www.nbep.org/restoration-why.html
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