“Hi. Yeah. Yeah, we’re going down to the plantings.”
Nicole Gotovich calls out to Common Fence Point resident Mil Kinsella, who’s passing in her SUV. Gotovich is taking me on a tour of the community’s sea level rise and storm surge mitigation projects.
As we walk along Common Fence Boulevard on Mount Hope Bay, Gotovich points out an early attempt to hold back the tide.
“This right here, concrete bricks, are somebody’s original attempt to try and save the shoreline here. And it ended up being more devastating than helpful,” she said.
Seashells are piled up to the seawall, which dates to the late 70s. Gotovich notes that the once three-foot-high wall is now nearly flush with the shoreline. It was an ill-fated early attempt at protecting the nearby road and homes from storm surge. Seawalls actually exacerbate erosion.
Rising sea levels have put coastal communities in Rhode Island at increased risk for flooding. On Aquidneck Island, Portsmouth is one of the most vulnerable. According to a University of Rhode Island report, in the future a one-foot sea level rise, combined with a storm like 2012’s Hurricane Sandy, would expose 726 Portsmouth homes to flooding. That’s more potential residential impact than anywhere else on the island.
At the north tip of the island, Common Fence Point is surrounded on three sides by Narragansett Bay. The neighborhood was built in the 1920s, with most of its shorefront property in a common trust. Once a summer-only destination with small beach cottages, CFP now has more than 500 homes with year-round residents. And they all recognize they are in harm’s way. Even a Category One hurricane would mandate an evacuation because flooding blocks the entrance to the neighborhood – their one way out. With the impacts of climate change, storms are intensifying more quickly, leaving residents less time to prepare and evacuate.
“I forget the term for it, but within 24 hours, they’re there,” Gotovich said. “You don’t have time to get out. They’ll go from a [Category] one or two, to like a five. That’s pretty scary. And a lot of people don’t know that Rhode Island could actually get a five.”
With those big storms on her mind, Gotovich has organized a hurricane preparedness training workshop in May. During the summer of 2020, she used the community sign at the exit from CFP as an educational billboard, explaining the difference between a hurricane watch and a warning. A type of “should I stay or should I go” reminder.
“If you get a warning, it’s going to happen. So be prepared. If you know that there’s a storm coming, 12 hours before the wind comes, you need to be out,” Gotovich said.
As we continue, seashells underfoot, the incoming tide laps on the shore. Five years ago, Gotovich and a group of neighbors began volunteering on projects to protect the most vulnerable areas. They’ve planted nearly 500 native grasses and shrubs along the shore, creating a natural barrier that anchors the shoreline without blocking the residents’ treasured Mount Hope Bay views. We pass Tom Charbonneau’s two-story home. He’s one of the volunteers. A mere six feet above sea level, his house had water lapping at its front steps after the heavy rains last December and January.
The plants won’t hold back the tide, but with their deep roots, they protect from erosion and buffer the winds. Charbonneau isn’t fazed by future storms. He understands that he and his neighbors have the same choices as other coastal communities: mitigate, elevate or relocate.
“No, not moving. This is it. We know at some point we’re going to be flooded and need to rebuild,” Charbonneau said. “And when we rebuild, obviously, we’ll have to go up on stilts. But we love it here. We’re staying here.”
Charbonneau joins us as we head to Taylor’s Point, where more neighbors have gathered, including Kinsella, who passed us earlier. A naturalist and resident since 1986, Kinsella initiated the Point’s first saltmarsh restoration in the mid-90s.
Recently, the volunteers secured a 10-year maintenance permit for the Point’s saltmarsh. Resident Scott Boyd, a retired engineer, monitors the tides and flow and keeps the marsh’s narrow channel clear with periodic shoveling by hand. The restored marsh helps filter the increased stormwater runoff and provides a habitat for birds and fish.
Boyd knows he is among determined, resilient neighbors. He also acknowledges that their mitigation plantings and restored saltmarsh make a difference now, though not forever.
“I very much accept that we’ve lost. I’m not sure that there is a way that we’re going to overcome what’s in our future. We’re not just going to build a dike around Aquidneck Island,” Boyd said.
Boyd shares his neighbors’ view that he and his wife, both nearing 60, love where they’ve lived for more than three decades. They’ll do what they can to protect and enjoy it as long as they can.
“Certainly, I’m not in denial … But unless things accelerate drastically, I think we’ll have left this earth before Common Fence is submerged,” Boyd said.
Portsmouth is not alone in facing the threats of stronger storms and flooding. Like all coastal communities, they’ll need planning, solutions and funding at a state and national level.
For now, the grasses on the shore are holding fast. Like the residents.
