Natural Resources - Sagamore Marsh Restoration

The Sagamore Marsh restoration project is one of the largest wetland restoration projects ever undertaken in New England. Tidal flushing of the Sagamore Marsh was restricted in the mid 1930's when the Cape Cod Canal was widened and deepened, creating a fresh and brackish water system. A 48-inch diameter culvert was constructed as part of the Canal reconstruction to drain runoff from the marsh into the Canal. This culvert proved inadequate to provide sufficient tidal flushing to maintain the salt marsh.

Various alternatives were examined to restore the salt marsh. The one that provides the maximum project benefit called for replacing the 48-inch culvert with two 6-foot high by 6-foot wide reinforced concrete box culverts under each road, installing electric sluice gates, deepening the man-made channel and widening the channel from 4-feet to 12-feet.

The Sagamore Marsh Project was under the direction of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. The National Marine Fisheries Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the EPA provided expert scientific analyses in support of this ecological restoration project.

View the Sagamore Marsh Project PDF File.