State Awards $1 Million Grant for Herring River Restoration Project

CCB MEDIA PHOTO EEA Secretary Matthew Beaton announces a grant for the Herring River Restoration Project.

CCB MEDIA PHOTOS
EEA Secretary Matthew Beaton announces a grant for the Herring River Restoration Project.

WELLFLEET – The state has announced a $1 million grant to advance the Herring River estuary restoration.

The grant, awarded by the Department of Fish and Game’s Division of Ecological Restoration and funded by the Environmental Bond Bill, was announced at an event yesterday at the Herring River Bridge.

Secretary Matthew Beaton from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs attended the event and made the announcement, which complements another $1 million in approved funding from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Restoration Center.

Conceptual plans for the Herring River estuary restoration.

Conceptual plans for the Herring River estuary restoration.

“This funding will allow the Friends of Herring River and its project to begin the important engineering and design phase of this large-scale estuary restoration project,” said Beaton. “The Baker-Polito Administration is committed to building on partnerships like this one to conserve the Commonwealth’s land, as well as proactively taking steps to increase our resilience to the effects of climate change.”

The development will be the largest tidal estuary restoration project ever undertaken in the Northeastern United States.

The project will restore tidal flow to approximately six miles of waterways and 1,000 acres of degraded salt marsh and estuarine habitats that have been blocked for more than a century.

It will improve water quality within Wellfleet Harbor, enhance migratory fish access to hundreds of acres of spawning ponds, restore a significant area of shellfish habitat, and enable the wetlands to build elevation and keep pace with future sea level rise.

“The restored Herring River estuary will support greater fish and wildlife populations, including waterfowl, herons and shorebirds on the expanded marsh and migratory fish such as river herring and white perch that spawn in the upper reaches of the watershed,” said DFG Commissioner George Peterson. “The project will also improve opportunities for shellfish harvest, fishing, and other recreation.”

The $2 million total will support engineering design for multiple infrastructure elements and advance other technical services tasks, including archaeological investigations, rare species assessments, preparation of permit applications, and development of mitigation measures to protect low-lying roads and structures from higher tide levels.

The project is being managed by Friends of Herring River, a non-profit organization based in Wellfleet.

“This grant from the Division of Ecological Restoration allows the continuation of critically important engineering and other technical services designed to restore the natural environment of the Herring River estuary for enjoyment by generations to come,” said Friends of Herring River President Don Palladino.

“It has long been a goal of this community to achieve the ecological and social benefits of a healthy and productive tidal marsh and we greatly appreciate the state’s continued partnership and investment to help move the project forward.”

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