Climate projects in Providence need federal money to have impact

PROVIDENCE — A network of streams and ponds once cut through the East Side of Providence. When rain fell, runoff followed the topography down through a watershed that encompassed the area around what is now Blackstone Boulevard. 

Some of the water seeped into the ground, depositing dirt and debris along the way, while the rest kept flowing, going down paths through narrow gullies before emptying into the Seekonk River and continuing on into Narragansett Bay. 

That natural system is all but gone now, covered by buildings and streets. As for the rainwater, it’s been channeled underground, into storm drains and through pipes.  

But an important piece of the original drainage network remains in the form of York Pond, an easily missed pool of water tucked at the base of the sandy, tree-studded bluffs that stand above the Seekonk’s banks. 

To see the pond these days is to be underwhelmed. It's silted-in and reverting to marsh, and what open water remains is ankle-deep in places, murky and foul. 

But York Pond is the centerpiece of a plan to restore at least part of the natural watershed. A group of East Side residents wants to clean out the pond and expand its ability to hold floodwaters. They would carve out a series of smaller ponds higher up the slope that would retain freshwater as rising seas make York Pond brackish.  

And they talk of creating dozens of rain gardens along Blackstone Boulevard and in the nearby neighborhoods to do what nature once did — slow down the flow of rainwater using grasses and flowers, and filter out the sand and pollutants.