Programs
and Projects
Fish & Habitat Restoration
The Ipswich River river and its tributaries provide rich habitat for fish, river mammals, macroinvertebrates, waterfowl, and shellfish. However, road crossings and dams can pose a threat. If not properly designed or maintained, they can fragment aquatic habitat and block fish migration. This is especially harmful for migratory fish like herring and shad, which spend much of their life in the ocean but require upstream and downstream passage to spawn in rivers and streams.
IRWA's fish and habitat restoration program focuses on the following activities:
Links to Recent News Features
Restoration Opportunities at Dams and Culverts
IRWA recently partnered with the Massachusetts Riverways Program on a Stream Continuity Project to train a group of volunteers to survey dams and road-stream crossings and determine whether they are fragmenting fish and wildlife habitat. Thanks to the efforts of these dedicated volunteers, we have developed restoration opportunity reports for five tributary streams in the Ipswich River watershed:
An ideal road crossing has three aims, according to the Massachusetts stream crossing standards. Bridges are generally preferred, but well-designed culverts and open-bottom arches may be used. Other concerns include depth and type of substrate, width, culvert position, appropriate flow, and openness.
- Fish and aquatic organism passage, to allow healthy fish populations to survive
- River and stream continuity, to maintain substrates and hydraulic characteristics and improve water management
- Wildlife passage, including riverbank areas for muskrats, salamanders, etc.
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Public Education
IRWA has developed a fact sheet about dams and culverts and their impacts on fisheries and aquatic habitat.
We have also hosted several public forums on fisheries restoration opportunities at two dams on the mainstem of the Ipswich River. The forums highlighted the emerging practice of dam removal to restore rivers and revitalize communities. Experts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's New England Restoration Center screened their short video "Relics and Rivers: Dismantling Dams in New England," followed by a lively discussion of fisheries restoration and dam removal. Brad Chase of DMF reviewed the status of anadromous fish in the Ipswich River, and Matt Collins of NOAA summarized the findings of a preliminary feasibility study of fish passage at the Willowdale Dam.
The forum was sponsored by IRWA, the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries (DMF), Massachusetts Riverways Program, Essex County Greenbelt Association, and the NOAA Restoration Center.
Community members expressed a variety of comments and concerns about the fish passage options. Your comments are welcome - send them to irwainfo@ipswichriver.org.
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Collaboration on Restoration Projects
We seek opportunities to partner with communities and agencies on habitat restoration projects such as culvert improvement, dam removal, fish passage enhancement, and channel bank restoration.
IRWA recently partnered with the NOAA Restoration Center, Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries, Massachusetts Riverways Program, and Essex County Greenbelt on a preliminary feasibility study of fish passage improvement at the Willowdale Dam in Topsfield. The preliminary feasibility study identified four potential options to improve fish passage: installation of a fish ladder, construction of a nature-like fishway/bypass channel, construction of a rock ramp up to the dam, and dam removal. The full study can be read here (pdf).
IRWA has also partnered with the Town of Ipswich to develop a remediation strategy for polluted runoff in Farley Brook, which discharges to critical smelt spawning habitat in the Ipswich River in Ipswich.
Please contact irwainfo@ipswichriver.org to learn more or propose a restoration project.
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Links to Recent News Features
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