Rhode Island launches statewide stormwater system upgrades with $3.2 million investment

(UI) – The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM  has awarded $3,176,918 in grants to local and state governments, non-profit organizations, and community groups.

The grants are funded by the Narragansett Bay and Watersheds Restoration Fund (BWRF), which received $3 million in the voter-approved 2022 Green Bond. Additional funding for this round of projects was sourced from previous BWRF bonds.

The 2024 grant recipients include:

Town of Barrington – Water Way End-of-Road Retrofit ($44,000): Barrington, in partnership with Save the Bay, will retrofit an existing stormwater management structure to better address stormwater pollution and improve regular maintenance. The retrofit will include installing tree trench BMPs in the drainage area to reduce the volume of stormwater runoff and a sediment forebay at the end of Water Way.

Bonnet Shores Fire District – Wesquage Pond ($75,000): The Bonnet Shores Fire District will complete planning, design, and permitting for a limited phragmites management program and the future construction of hydraulic and stormwater controls associated with Bonnet Point Road to flooding management of peak flows and mitigate flooding. One aspect of the project involves equalization pipes within Wesquage Pond in to provide additional outlet capacity during peak flows to Narragansett Bay. 

Town of Burrillville – Vacuum Truck ($255,000): Burrillville will purchase a vacuum truck to remove debris from the Town’s municipal stormwater system. Regular removal of debris reduces pollutant loading to receiving waterways and improves the working life of the infrastructure. 

Town of Middletown – Green End Stormwater and Flooding Improvements ($400,000): This project will install new stormwater BMPs to intercept and treat runoff from Miantonomi Avenue which discharges into North Easton Pond and replace an undersized culvert at Green End Avenue that has caused localized flooding issues for decades. North Easton Pond is part of the Newport Drinking Water Supply System.

Town of Middletown – Berkeley Avenue Culvert ($400,000): This project would replace an undersized culvert on Berkeley Avenue with a new culvert that improves watercourse continuity and aquatic habitat, management of peak flows, and resiliency of inland habitats and community infrastructure. 

City of Newport – CSO Disconnections ($400,000): The City of Newport will disconnect stormwater connections to the existing combined sewer-stormwater overflow (CSO) system reducing flows into Newport Harbor and re-route runoff to a new separate new stormwater system that will provide treatment via infiltration via green infrastructure along Bellevue Avenue. 

 

Related News

From Archive

• Most Read
• Most Commented