The pond is located within the Ninigret National Wildlife Refuge. It is connected to Green Hill Pond via a small channel. The pond is situated on low-lying ground, and as such, it is considered particularly vulnerable to storm surge flooding. Ninigret Pond, like others in the region, was 'formed after the recession of the glaciers 12,000 years ago'. Found along its shores are 'extensive' archaeological remains. It is utilized for recreational activities, as well as oyster and quahog harvesting. It is the largest of the nine lagoons, or 'salt ponds', in southern Rhode Island. Put differently, there just isn’t enough difference in the tidal ranges between Ninigret and Green Hill Pond to be able to drive a substantial reduction in bacteria levels through dredging. The net result is that there would be only a slight reduction (8%) in bacteria levels as a result of dredging the channel connecting the two ponds. Given the small absolute value of the tidal change between Ninigret and Green Hill, the fact is that dredging will not exchange much more water than the current situation.

Bacteria reduction depends upon the volume of water exchanged. The simulations show that dredging has no impact on the exchange of water between Ninigret and the ocean. At the same time, the tidal range in Ninigret would decrease slightly from 20 to 18 cm. URI found that dredging the channel would substantially increase the tidal range in Green Hill Pond from 11 cm to 16 cm (a 45% increase). In December 2018, URI issued its report which can be found here. The resulting contour map can be found here.

Ninigret pond dredging