The Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project: Lessons from an Experience with Preparation and Opportunity

The Cape Cod Water Resources Restoration Project (CCWRRP) is a collaborative, regional approach to restoration of natural resources in Barnstable County, Massachusetts. The objectives are to restore anadromous fish passage and degraded salt marshes, and improve water quality for shellfish beds. The CCWRRP Plan is the result of focused efforts by the Cape Cod Conservation District, in partnership with the 15 Cape Cod communities, County agency and private environmental organizations, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, USDA- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and other federal partners. The plan was prepared under the authority of the Watershed Protection and Flood Prevention Act and the National Environmental Protection Act. Cape Cod has forty rivers that support populations of anadromous river herring and the MA Division of Marine Fisheries has identified a total of 93 fish passage obstructions on these spawning runs. Using a set of 11 criteria, the CCWRRP identified 24 priority fish passage obstruction remediation projects. Phase I of the CCWRRP received funding through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and five new fish ladders are now under construction. This talk will illustrate the importance of following through on prioritization processes, and will compare and contrast the fish ladders that were built with Works Progress Administration funding in the 1930s with those that were built with Recovery Act funding in 2012.