Turn the Tide - Restore Dartmouth's Estuaries

Turn the Tide – Restore Dartmouth’s Estuaries is a partnership between The Coalition for Buzzards Bay, the Lloyd Center for the Environment, the University of Massachusetts School for Marine Science & Technology (SMAST) and the Town of Dartmouth to restore water quality and living resources in Dartmouth’s estuaries.

Nitrogen overloading, or eutrophication, is the greatest long-term threat to the health of the Buzzards Bay ecosystem and an emerging issue is coastal areas worldwide. Data collected between 1992 and 2002 by the Coalition's Baywatchers program indicates that more than half of Buzzards Bay’s harbors and coves are suffering from excessive nitrogen inputs from watershed development. Among the most degraded in the region are the Slocums/Little River Estuary and Apponagansett Bay in Dartmouth.

The Turn the Tide project will create a restoration plan for the Slocums/Little River Estuary and Apponagansett Bay. The project will analyze the amount of non-point source pollution in these waterways, educate the community about the dangers of ignoring this water quality issue and ultimately create a restoration strategy to be implemented by citizen action.