An ongoing four-year project of the Westport River Watershed Alliance (WRWA) is an initiative to reverse the nitrification of Cockeast Pond by planting half a million oysters in a fraction of the pond’s area. Residents of Westport have long been familiar with oysters as source of food–and employment–but oysters might also be capable of solving a crippling environmental problem. It’s an exciting and new solution to a well-known problem. Pollution from human activity emits nitrogen via surface runoff, human and animal waste discharge, and emissions from combustion. Surface runoff, the flow of excess waters over Earth’s surface, is a particularly significant problem. Many farmers and homeowners treat their soil with nitrate-rich fertilizers, pesticides, and more, and when rainwater soaks through this soil it carries nitrates with it wherever it’s going. High levels of nitrogen in bodies of water cultivate the growth of algal blooms. Algae feed on nitrates and phosphates. When an excess of these nutrients appears, algae growth explodes. When algae die, their decomposition consumes oxygen. If there are enough algae, this process can deplete a body of water of oxygen. Since marine animals require oxygen to survive, algal blooms kill off fish and shellfish, as well as more complex species of plants that process nitrogen differently than algae. In addition, harmful bacteria can thrive as a result of algal blooms and sicken humans and animals that enter the infected body of water. Beaches have often closed off as a result of algae blooms. How do oysters fit into this? For decades, scientists have known that oysters are able to filter water and use its elements to build tissue and store waste ingredients in surrounding sediment. Microbes break down this sediment and release nitrogen into the water, where it emerges into the atmosphere as harmless gas in a process known as denitrification. So what would happen if someone put 500,000 oysters in a pond plagued by algal blooms? This was the question asked by researchers from the UMass Dartmouth School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), which has partnered with WRWA to test a theory that oysters could bring the nitrogen levels of Cockeast Pond under control. After 30,000 oysters passed a baseline survivability test in the spring of 2016, the EPA awarded the SMAST researchers over half a million dollars to take the next, much larger step. If this method of denitrification is successful, it will mean much more than the survival of Cockeast Pond. “Addressing the nitrogen problem along the South Coast, Cape Cod and the South Shore will cost billions of dollars if we only consider traditional strategies such as bigger wastewater treatment plants and more sewer lines,” reported Dr. Brian Howes from UMass Dartmouth. “We just don’t have the time or money for that course. It is, therefore, imperative that we find soft solutions that leverage nature, in this case the oyster, to make progress.” Success in the case of Cockeast Pond could lead to billions of dollars saved down the road if this method were applied all over the country and even the world.  Nothing is certain, but as of fall 2017, things are looking up.

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The Woonasquatucket River (woon-AHS-kwa-tuk-it) has been at the center of Rhode Island’s uniquely layered history of invention, innovation and multiculturalism.

The Narragansett and Wampanoag tribes who first settled the region called the river “where the salt water ends.” The river flows approximately 19 miles from the headwaters northwest of Providence, 300 feet above sea level, and flows steeply downward before joining with the Moshassuck River to form the Providence River, which in turn flows into Narragansett Bay. The lower part of the river closest to the Bay is tidal. The rich wildlife drew Native Americans here to forage for berries, to fish and to hunt small game. The lush wooded river valley made it home to fox, coyote, rabbits, white tail deer, otters, and raccoons, along with occasional bear and moose. Trout, salmon, herring, eels, bluegills, pumpkinseeds, catfish, turtles, swans, mallards and hooded mergansers lived in and on the river.

In 1636 a treaty gave the land between the Moshassuck and the Woonasquatucket to Roger Williams. Shortly thereafter, European settlers started to manage the river to profit from its riches. The river's swift drop made it particularly easy to utilize. Farmers used waterwheels to grind their grains, to saw timber, and to power other small industries. After Samuel Slater harnessed the Blackstone River in 1790 to run his textile mill, other businessmen built along the Woonasquatucket. More and more factories followed suit until nearly every foot of the river’s drop was used to turn a factory water wheel. The heavy dependency of factories on the river’s flowing water made dry summer months particularly challenging.

In January 1824 the Rhode Island General Assembly issued a charter to the newly established Woonasquatucket River Company, formed by leading merchants to construct reservoirs along the Woonaskquatucket River to collect spring rains and to hold a supply of water during dry months. The founders pooled their capital and constructed four reservoirs: Slack’s, Sprague Lower, Waterman, and Stillwater. This experiment proved so successful that it became a model for industrial rivers around the world.

Stillwater Pond (now Woonasquatucket Pond) is the largest reservoir on the river itself. Improvements in waterpower management spurred technological and business innovations, including the first power loom and the first mutual system of insurance originated by Zachariah Allen at his Allendale Mill. The river has a total of 18 dams, testimonies to the interaction between the river and the industries it supported.

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