North Pool, Newbury/Rowley - restoration of fresh water marsh to saltmarsh

The North Pool is one of three large freshwater impoundments within the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge (PRNWR), located on Plum Island, in the towns of Newbury and Rowley. The impoundments were created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 1940s to provide habitat for waterfowl. For the North Pool, a 1.5 mile earthen berm was built, isolating a 100-acre section of salt marsh from tidal flow. The berm was constructed approximately 500-meters out onto the marsh. To the west are extensive areas of functioning salt marsh, forming the eastern edge of Plum Island Sound. A four-foot wide culvert has been installed in the berm allowing limited saltwater into the pool, but it is clearly inadequate to convey tidal flow sufficient to support salt marsh vegetation.

In recent years, the pool has become dominated by Phragmites and purple loosestrife and has required large expenditures of labor and resources to maintain. In light of this, refuge managers, looking to improve the habitat value of the pool, have decided to explore the feasibility of returning the impoundment back to its original condition as a salt marsh. The restoration of the North Pool would be one of the largest salt marsh restorations ever undertaken in Massachusetts.