Habitats are restored. In 2022...
We completed our 15th year of collecting and analyzing water quality samples along seven sites in the Pawcatuck River estuary and Little Narragansett Bay. The data supports our advocacy for improvements to the Westerly Wastewater Treatment Facility and the Town of Westerly sewer system, the funding and implementation of improved stormwater and wastewater management systems, and more.
Along the Palmer River in Warren, we began restoring a salt marsh and marsh migration corridor that was protected through a Natural Resources Conservation Service easement. This is the first restoration project that Save The Bay has conducted on land that we helped protect, in partnership with the Warren Land Conservation Trust and NRCS.
We participated in a nationwide exploration of PFAS in freshwater by taking a snapshot of conditions in the Pawtuxet River in Cranston and Buckeye Brook in Warwick, R.I. The data collection represents an important first step in understanding the prevalence of these contaminants in local waters.
We continued restoring salt marsh sites in Little Narragansett Bay and Winnapaug, Quonochontaug, Ninigret, and Potters ponds by securing funding; recruiting and training volunteers; sharing techniques, results, and knowledge with partners; and monitoring sites for success.
We advocated for and supported improved stormwater management techniques in Warren, Providence, South Kingstown, and Westerly, R.I., as well as in Fall River, Mass.
Future Bay stewards are engaged. In 2022...
After two years of COVID-19-related limitations, our 2022 summer BayCamp season resumed in full-force. We welcomed 643 BayCampers in grades K-12 to 27 camps in Providence, Newport, Wickford and Bristol, R.I.
During the school year, our education staff engaged nearly 10,000 students in 187 hands-on, experiential education programs at schools across Rhode Island— and half of those students engaged in a Save The Bay program more than once.
Save The Bay Seal Tours and Lighthouse Tours welcomed nearly 2,855 Bay stewards of all ages to on-the-water learning and recreation experiences.
Our ever-popular Exploration Center and Aquarium at Easton’s Beach in Newport, R.I. offered 19,496 guests the opportunity to explore and learn about the animals, habitats and issues related to Narragansett Bay.
Our community continues to grow. In 2022...
Thirty-eight ambitious volunteers logged more than 200 hours marking storm drains in Bristol, East Greenwich, Johnston, Middletown, North Providence, Providence, Warren and Warwick, R.I., as well as in Seekonk, Mass., where they marked all known storm drains in the town. This effort seeks to prevent pollution in local waters by raising awareness and educating community members.
After a fog-related cancellation in 2021, this year’s Swim engaged 204 swimmers and 145 volunteers in our two-mile, open water swim and fundraiser, with an additional 48 participants contributing virtually. Participants raised $240,000 in support of Save The Bay’s mission to protect and improve Narragansett Bay.
Save The Bay’s popular internship program welcomed 68 interns into semester long programs that allowed them to engage directly with our mission-based work. Individual programs spanning every area of the organization, from volunteer management to habitat restoration.
Our International Coastal Cleanup effort was supported by 2,465 volunteers who collected 22,655 pounds of trash from shorelines around Narragansett Bay between the months of September and November. This data supports a global report on litter and marine debris that is published by the Ocean Conservancy and made available to advocates worldwide.
Our voices are heard. In 2022...
Upholding our commitment to public access, our team surveyed 135 public rights-of-way, while also supporting the designation of five additional rights-ofway in Portsmouth, R.I.
Our VoterVoice platform—which allows residents across the region to make their voices heard by writing directly to their elected representatives on matters important to Narragansett Bay—engaged 259 more advocates than in 2021.
Save The Bay celebrated one of the most successful Rhode Island legislative sessions in decades. We made strides in each of our legislative priorities, including: funding for the Ocean State Climate and Resilience program; increasing resources at the Department of Environmental Management; the addition of a full-time hearing officer for the Coastal Resources Management Council, a key part of our reform agenda for the agency; the appointment of a qualified member for the CRMC’s volunteer council; and a ballot measure that led to the approval of a $50 million “green bond” to support environmentally-friendly initiatives and projects in the state.
