BRWCT dedicates $900K to stormwater management, maritime development

THE RHODE ISLAND BAYS, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team has announced roughly $900,000 in funding for maritime management and development projects in fiscal year 2014, including critical monitoring of river and stream flows, groundwater, and water quality. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
THE RHODE ISLAND BAYS, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team has announced roughly $900,000 in funding for maritime management and development projects in fiscal year 2014, including critical monitoring of river and stream flows, groundwater, and water quality. / COURTESY R.I. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

(Corrected, Nov. 5, 3:57 p.m.)

PROVIDENCE – The Rhode Island Bays, Rivers and Watersheds Coordination Team announced Monday that it will dedicate roughly $900,000 to stormwater management, maritime economic development, climate change adaptation and freshwater monitoring in fiscal year 2014.

The team is responsible for the management and sustainable development of Rhode Island’s fresh and marine waters, and announced its priorities for the current fiscal year in its FY2014 Work Plan.

“This year’s BRWCT Work Plan exemplifies how the BRWCT plays a key role in advancing water resources management and sustainability by coordinating management, planning and investment across Rhode Island’s leading water agencies,” said Ames Colt, chair of the coordination team, in a statement.

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The $900,000 estimate for fiscal 2014 provides funding to implement stormwater management programs in Middletown, West Warwick and the upper Narragansett Bay area; develop a statewide plan to optimize freight movements through Rhode Island’s maritime ports; fund the R.I. Coastal Resources Management Council plan to track shoreline erosion and sea-level rise; and support baseline environmental monitoring of river and stream flows, groundwater, and water quality.

In addition, the BRWCT will fund estuarine and ocean science research, including the University of Rhode Island Graduate School of Oceanography’s coastal hypoxia research program and the monitoring of the state’s lobster population.

The team’s personnel and operating budgets are also included in the $900,000 estimate, along with $250,000 allocated from the state’s Oil Spill Planning Administration and Response Monitoring fund to pay for agreements with the U.S. Geological Survey to operate the Rhode Island stream-gauge network, monitor groundwater levels and monitor large-river water quality.

The original version of this story incorrectly stated that the Oil Spill Planning Administration and Response Monitoring fund was a U.S. Geological Survey program. The OSPAR fund is a state program from which funds are allocated annually to finance ecological and environmental projects.

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