Conservationists have kicked off a project this week to shore up thirty acres of salt marsh at the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge. It’s one of the larger projects underway to make the state’s salt marshes more resistant to climate change.

The salt marsh at the John H. Chafee National Wildlife Refuge has started to disappear near the Narrow River due to rising seas and more frequent storms. That’s flooding the marsh at a pace that’s difficult to keep up with, said John O Brien, a policy and partnership specialist with the Nature Conservancy.

O’Brien said salt marshes are important buffers against storms and water pollution and serve as wildlife habitats. Crews will dredge sand from the Narrow River and then spread it across vulnerable areas of the marsh, adding up to six inches of elevation.

“So we are trying to restore this, we are trying to raise the levels of the marsh,” said O’Brien. “We are trying to improve the drainage in the marsh so that it can continue to support important marine and avian species.”

Test plots have shown the salt marsh will grow through added sand and reestablish itself, growing more stable and preventing further erosion. This technique was used last year to elevate 11 acres of salt marsh at the Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Middletown.

The project, a partnership with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council, will be complete by the end of the year. 

O’Brien said this salt marsh project is one of the larger restorations underway in the state. It’s funded with federal money for Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.