Cards Pond
{{Short description|Lagoon in Rhode Island, United States}}
{{Infobox lake
| name = Cards Pond
| image =
| caption =
| image_bathymetry =
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| location = South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island
| coords = {{Coord|41.3737128|-71.5675593|region:US-RI_type:waterbody_source:gnis|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
| type = saline
| inflow = precipitation, groundwater
| outflow = to sea, breaches 8-10 times a year
| catchment = {{convert|1979.76|acres|km2|abbr=on}}
| basin_countries = United States
|pushpin_map=Rhode Island
| length =
| width =
| area = {{convert|40.95|acres|ha|abbr=on}}
| depth = {{convert|1.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}
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| group = Salt Ponds of Rhode Island
}}
Cards Pond, or Card Pond, is a coastal lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States.{{cite web|title=Salt Ponds of Rhode Island |publisher=Rhode Island Sea Grant |accessdate=2009-05-25 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/bookstore/saltpond.pdf |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517014016/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/bookstore/saltpond.pdf |archivedate=May 17, 2008 }}
Coastal lagoon
It is one of nine coastal lagoons (often referred to as "salt ponds") in southern Rhode Island.{{cite web|author=S.W. Nixon and B. A. Buckley|title=Nitrogen Inputs to Rhode Island Coastal Salt – Too Much of a Good Thing|year=2007|publisher=Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management|accessdate=2009-05-25|url=http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/permits/isds/pdfs/spnload.pdf}}{{cite web|author=|title=Rhode Island’s Salt Pond Region: A Special Area Management Plan|year=|publisher=Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council|accessdate=2009-06-11|url=http://www.crmc.ri.gov/regulations/SAMP_SaltPond.pdf}} According to the Rhode Island Sea Grant program, "[i]ts breachway is only intermittently open to the sea", and it receives large quantities of freshwater from Moonstone Stream; only two other salt ponds, Point Judith and Greenhill, have significant streams flowing into them. It is partially within the Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge, which is inhabited by over 360 species of animals.{{cite web|author=|title=Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge|year=|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|accessdate=2009-06-11|url=http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=53545}}
Watershed
Cards Pond's watershed covers {{convert|1979.76|acres|ha|abbr=on}}, of which {{convert|59.06|acres|ha|abbr=on}} is occupied by water; the pond itself has a surface area of {{convert|40.95|acres|ha|abbr=on}}, while other, smaller bodies of water account for the other {{convert|18.11|acres|ha|abbr=on}}.{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} The pond averages {{convert|1.3|ft|m|abbr=on}} deep, and has a salinity level of approximately 4 parts per thousand, too low to sustain the growth of eelgrass. It has been classified as "non-tidal except when breached by storms".{{cite web|title=Cards Pond General Features Data |publisher=Rhode Island South Shore Sea Grant |accessdate=2009-06-11 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/cards/cardsGFD.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716235505/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/cards/cardsGFD.html |archivedate=July 16, 2011 }} The water directly receives about 51,196,553 gallons of precipitation per year, and at least 1,592,165 gallons of daily groundwater flow.{{cite web|title=Cards Pond Freshwater Input Data |publisher=Rhode Island South Shore Sea Grant |accessdate=2009-06-11 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/cards/cardsFID.html |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013015129/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/cards/cardsFID.html |archivedate=October 13, 2008 }} Cards Pond, like others in the region, was "formed after the recession of the glaciers 12,000 years ago".{{cite web|title=What is a Salt Pond?|publisher=Salt Ponds Coalition|accessdate=2009-06-11|url=http://www.saltpondscoalition.org/pond%20profiles.html|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009221848/http://www.saltpondscoalition.org/pond%20profiles.html|archivedate=2010-10-09}} Nests of piping plovers, which are federally designated as a threatened species, have been documented within the watershed.
Flooding
The land surrounding Cards Pond is low-lying, and particularly vulnerable to severe flooding. However, compared to other ponds in the region, damage from future storms is projected to be minimal. It typically breaches around 9 times each year, spilling into the Block Island Sound. When the pond threatens to flood a nearby road or surrounding houses, a breach is intentionally created by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.{{cite news|author=Donita Naylor|title=Cards Pond spills seaward|date=March 11, 2008|newspaper=The Providence Journal|accessdate=2009-06-11|url=http://www.projo.com/news/content/CARDS_POND_BREACH_03-11-08_CB9AS2B_v13.38edf01.html}}
See also
{{Portal|Rhode Island}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{gnis|1219497|Card Pond}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716235304/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/cards/cardsmap.jpg Card Pond map]
{{RI salt ponds}}
{{Waterbodies of Rhode Island}}