Beach access information is plentiful and there is greater than one access site per mile of coastline. The surfing areas in Rhode Island are generally in good shape. A comprehensive inventory of shoreline structures would be useful. The state should continue to work to limit the proliferation of shoreline structures, which now cover 25% of the shoreline in Narragansett Bay.

Indicators

(+) In October 2009 state officials announced a plan to borrow $135 million to fund water infrastructure projects across Rhode Island, the bulk of which – $92.15 million – will be used by the Narragansett Bay Commission and 10 municipalities to replace old and failing sewage systems. The $92.15 million includes $26 million from the federal economic stimulus law enacted in February 2009, with the rest coming from the R.I. Clean Water Finance Agency.
(+) In November 2008 the $359 million "CSO Phase One" project in Providence, Rhode Island was publicly commissioned. The project consists of a 3-mile-long tunnel designed to capture water from a 1-1/2 inch rainstorm and then pump it to the Fields Point sewage treatment plant. This should result in greatly reduced areas of shellfish bed closures.
(+) Rhode Island kicked off an innovative project in Fall 2008 to zone its offshore waters for diverse activities, including renewable energy development. The Ocean Special Area Management Plan (SAMP), to be developed by the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council (CRMC) and the University of Rhode Island (URI), will be a two-year research and planning process that integrates the best available science with open public input and involvement. More info
(+) About 60 to 70 volunteers planted approximately 2,500 plugs of American beach grass on a section of dunes at Narragansett's Town Beach in March 2008 in a “dune restoration” project.
(+) The Department of Environmental Management awarded nearly $4 million in state and federal grants to 27 entities across the state in March 2007 to restore water quality.
(+) Rhode Islanders passed a $19 million bond in the November 2004 elections that will provide money to upgrade local wastewater treatment facilities and provide municipalities grants to deal with stormwater discharges. As part of the stormwater grant program, beaches have been identified as a top priority.
(+) Rhode Island completed the Greenwich Bay Special Area Management Plan in 2005. The intent of this plan is to limit development on Greenwich Bay and improve water quality, recreation and fish harvests. The objectives of the plan include increasing the number of homeowners tied to public sewers, reducing the nitrogen discharged from local sewage treatment plants, ending beach closures because of waterborne bacteria by 2010 and opening half the bay to winter or year-round shellfish harvesting by 2020.
(+) On the dunes of barrier beaches, residential or non-water dependent structures that are more than 50% destroyed may not be rebuilt regardless of insurance carrier coverage.
(+) There is on average better than one public access site for every mile of shoreline.

(0) When Hurricane Bob passed over Rhode Island in August of 1991, it caused a storm surge of 5 to 8 feet along the Rhode Island shore. The "Perfect Storm" also hit the state during the same year.

(-) In Narragansett Bay, 25% of the shoreline is armored.
(-) Aside from the public beach areas, the state agencies and coastal towns are not typically concerned with the conditions of surfing areas because they are not high-use public areas. Rhode Island does not recognize surfing as an economic, cultural, and recreational resource.

Victories

In April 2005 the Rhode Island Chapter held their third annual Earth Day Beach Cleanup and Computer Recycling program. The group collected 18,000 pounds of trash off three local beaches and recycled 37,000 pounds of computers, the second largest such recycling effort in the state's history. The event continues every year, with 2009's "Earth Day Beach Clean-up and Eco-Depot" scheduled for May 16.
The Chapter's Beachscape Program took a giant stride forward in 2003 with a survey of the State's southern beaches from Westerly to Newport.
The Rhode Island Chapter's water quality testing program finished its seventh successful year in October 2006. The program's 11 sampling locations, located at various locations from Westerly to Newport, were sampled on a monthly basis from May through October, yielding many interesting results. In particular, sampling efforts at Newport's Easton's Beach (1st Beach) revealed a problematic sewage pump-station that appears to be the source of high coliform counts at the beach's eastern end.
The Rhode Island Chapter participated in Surfrider Foundation’s Coast-to Coast Paddle Out, which called attention to the recommendations outlined in the independent Pew Commission and U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy reports.

For a list of Surfrider Foundation's latest coastal victories, go here.