LOCATED AT: 143 COUNTY ROAD, IPSWICH MA MAIL: P.O. BOX 576, IPSWICH, MA 01938 PHONE: 978-412-8200 FAX: 978-412-9100

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:

  • Identifying restoration opportunities at dams and culverts
  • Public education about fish and aquatic life
  • Collaboration with communities and other partners on restoration projects

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.

  1. Fish and aquatic organism passage, to allow healthy fish populations to survive
  2. River and stream continuity, to maintain substrates and hydraulic characteristics and improve water management
  3. Wildlife passage, including riverbank areas for muskrats, salamanders, etc.
  4. Public Education

Fish and Aquatic Life

Dams and Culverts

We have hosted several public forums on fisheries restoration opportunities at two dams on the mainstem of the Ipswich River. The forums highlighted the practice of dam removal to restore rivers and revitalize communities. The forums were 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.

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.

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 (see above feasibility study).

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.