Racing Sea Rise
The Ocean State's expansive coast defines its culture and economy. But Rhode Island’s close relation to water now puts its citizens at risk.
As the largest estuary in New England, Narragansett Bay is an essential part of life in Rhode Island. Its waterfront shapes and defines its character; provides industry and recreation; and draws tourists with its beauty and activity. The surrounding university towns contribute to the culture, ideas, and innovation, while the region’s ports welcome cargo ships from around the world, bringing trade up and down the East Coast. Yet Narragansett Bay’s very essence poses a significant threat—one rapidly accelerating in the face of development, pollution, and, most notably, rising seas.
Understanding the Past
Rhode Island's Original Inhabitants
The current communities of Narragansett Bay thrive on the traditional territory of the Wampanoag, Narragansett, Pocanoet, and Niantic First Nations. Described by the first European visitors as prosperous with a population of many thousands, they lived sustainably off the land for millenia through fishing, agriculture, and hunting. We recognize their Indigenous rights to the land.
European Colonization
1500s-1600s: Roger Williams established the first permanent colony within Narragansett Bay in 1636. Before long, the colonists tap the rich soil of the estuaries for farming. While some colonists were respectful and had positive relationships with Natives, Europeans ultimately decimated the Indigenous population through a combination of warfare and disease.
Age of Sail
1700s: Ocean commerce secures Rhode Island as one of the most affluent colonies owing to its deep ports. Prior to the American Revolution, Newport is one of the most prosperous regions in the colonies, rivaling even New York and Boston. Just north, the Port of Providence is also developed and challenges Newport for access to commerce and industry. Molasses and sugar become lucrative crops in the colony, while the Triangle Slave Trade brings hundreds of enslaved Africans to the region. They are then forced into labor to support the rapidly growing economy.
Industrial Age
1800s: Fueled by the region’s success in establishing ports and supported by a robust fisheries industry, Rhode Island is a hub for innovation during the Industrial Age. The people of Narragansett Bay turn their attention to a profitable economy centered on mills, factories and access to global trade. A highly industrialized economy spreads across the region, as the same water that powers and churns the mills is returned to the Bay as polluted runoff.
Industrial Decline and Recreational Pursuits
The 1900s: The textile industry begins moving south and away from Narragansett Bay. As the industrial economy declines, briefly revitalized by defense production during World War II, the population dwindles. As an escape from heavily polluted cities, the Bay’s economy is renewed by the inhabitants’ ability to capitalize on recreation and access to natural beauty. Tourism picks up post-war, and the Bay’s natural value spurs on the first environmental movements, including an effort to protect coastal communities from storm surge.
Restoration of the Bay
1970s-Today: As Rhode Island’s connection to the water as a recreational resource grows, so too does discontent over the spread of industry. A movement to protect and strengthen resilience in the Bay begins. Launched in 1970, Save the Bay was born from the community’s desire to halt industrial expansion, protecting the Bay from a series of energy plant proposals. Concern over pollution comes later as citizens in the 1980s and 1990s realize that an unhealthy Bay leads to unhealthy people. Save the Bay’s mission expands from protection to cleanup, advocating for enforcement of the Clean Water Act, stricter permits and more. In recent decades, big strides have been made toward restoration and protection, along with the added benefit of connecting younger generations to the Bay as a cultural resource. Today, Save The Bay’s efforts center on how to restore and return physical resilience to the natural ecosystem, as the impacts of climate change continue to be a constant and growing threat.
Natural Environment
No matter the era, ties to the water have always been essential to the Bay’s unique way of life. Aquatic life in this estuary is plentiful, with about 1,056 species recorded and hundreds yet discovered living throughout its shores. However, the region's biodiversity is plummeting due to climate change—from warming waters and increased salinity—and other pollution. The coastline is rapidly changing due to erosion caused by storms, sea rise and development. Every inch of sea-level rise can obliterate 100 inches of the beach.
Community leaders across Rhode Island are responding to these crises. With the island's very existence at stake, forward-thinking leaders are responding tenacity and creativity as they battle these rapidly growing threats.
Learning to Live With Water
Sea-level rise projections for Narragansett Bay have shown to be higher than the global average. For Rhode Island, this is caused from the melting of terrestrial ice sheets, thermal expansion of seawater due to increased temperatures, land subsidence along Rhode Island’s coastline, and effects from the Gulf Stream and gravitational forces in the North Atlantic. ― Teresa Crean, Director of Planning, Building and Resiliency, Barrington, R.I.
Narragansett Bay waters have risen 10 inches in the past century. Based on intermediate to high projections from the 2022 Sea Level Rise and Coastal Flood Hazard Interagency Task Force tool, Narragansett Bay will see more than 1 foot of sea-level rise by 2040, nearly 2 feet by 2060, more than 3 feet by 2080, and 5.05 feet by 2100.
Some communities, such as low-lying Warren on the waterfront, may face unprecedented water levels twice daily at high tide in just a few years. Other communities at higher elevations can still expect nuisance flooding.
NOAA’s 2022 State Climate Report confirmed that Rhode Island has warmed by more than 3°F over the past century. As the temperature rises, so too does the likelihood of higher intensity storms and other extreme weather events.
Toward Tomorrow
Since the start of 2022, teams of undergraduate and graduate-level students from Envision Resilience have immersed themselves in the culture, values and history of vulnerable communities around Narragansett Bay. In responding to the needs of these communities, the teams featured in this exhibition developed ideas that are big, bold, and innovative, challenging entrenched ways of thinking and showcasing a reimagining of these coastal areas. They offer visions of not only a more resilient future—but also a more inclusive, adaptive, and equitable one.
A future with more water is certain. Rather than shy away from its challenges, Envision Resilience asks you to imagine the possibilities. The students’ designs demonstrate that living with more water does not have to be anything less than beautiful.
