On April 7, 2020, The Trustees and our contractor (Northeast Wetland Restoration) began preliminary work to kickstart the restoration phase of the Great Marsh Restoration project at Old Town Hill in Newbury, MA. This is the first of three sites to be fully permitted for this restoration phase. Two additional sites, in Ipswich and Essex, have completed the design phase, and are moving to the permitting phase, for a total of more than 300 acres.
What is the restoration phase?
The restoration phase will begin with the cutting of salt marsh hay on-site, using walk behind-mowers. This hay will then be gathered, loosely braided, and secured using natural twine and stakes, into the bottom of roughly 50% of the ditches. Once secured into the ditches, the hay will naturally trap sediment from the incoming tides, rebuilding the salt marsh “peat” from the bottom-up, effectively restoring the marsh’s natural draining processes and increasing the flow in the remaining ditches to prevent clogs.
Why only 50% of the ditches?
Salt marshes naturally need to flood and drain with the tides. Historically, natural creeks provided the right balance but farmers added capacity for the marsh to drain by adding ditches. By restoring half of the ditches back to marsh the balance will be restored and the added flow through the remaining ditches will keep them from clogging and keeping water on the marsh. Right now there are too many ditches that have clogged, which is causing water to stay on the marsh, and drowning the plants. It is a delicate balance!
What step was completed on April 7?
On April 7 our contractor began to clear natural “blockages” that were found in some of the “primary” ditches needed for restoring balanced draining. These blockages were not the bottom-up, natural peat that our restoration method will build. Rather, they were clogs that formed on the top of the marsh from growing vegetation, restricting proper tidal movement and allowing water to be held on the marsh. This kind of excess water leads to the drowning of marsh plants and marsh “subsidence,” or natural sinking as plant roots die. If left unchecked, vast areas of marsh will die and convert to shallow open water. By removing these blockages we restore the tidal flow needed for our next step of restoration.
When will restoration begin?
Though dependent on weather and tides, we plan to begin harvesting and layering the salt marsh hay by the end of the month. Watch our project page, and Trustees social media channels, for updates.