This grant is one in a series of grants awarded to the town of Scituate as a result of the North and South Rivers Watershed Association’s and the Massachusetts Bays Program long standing partnership with the town. This grant will help to restore streamflow supportive of herring passage while at the same time protecting and enhancing the town’s drinking water supply. The NSRWA and MassBays will continue to work closely with the town of Scituate through this next phase of the project to ensure the final design and permitting are reflective of both of these goals.
Baker-Polito Administration Awards Over $11.5 Million for Dam and Seawall Projects
Funding to Twenty-Two Projects Will Increase Climate Change Resiliency Across Massachusetts
Scituate: $227,309 grant for design and permitting of upgrade of the Scituate Reservoir Dam
- This grant will support the final design and permitting of the Scituate Reservoir Dam Water Storage and Fish Passage Improvements Project. During the drought in 2016 and despite aggressive water use reduction efforts, the Town of Scituate suffered a severe water shortage. This project will increase storage while also allowing for flows into First Herring Brook that support an important river ecosystem. Work will raise the Reservoir Dam impoundment and Tack Factory Pond 1.5 ft. above the existing maximum normal pool. The spillway will be modified to increase the spillway capacity with a motor operated bottom hinged gate. The existing fishway at Reservoir Dam will also be modified to lower the fishway exit channel into the impoundment and incorporate removable weirs to provide passage of anadromous at the majority of reservoir water levels during the spring and fall migration periods. The Project will add 108.8 acre-feet of storage, which is approximately 28 days of water supply at the Town’s typical winter withdrawal rate. The project has been supported by DEP’s Water Management Act Assistance Grant program.
For more information on the rest of the grant funding go to the Mass.gov website.