{{Short description|Closed lagoon in South Kingstown, Rhode Island}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox body of water | name = Trustom Pond | image = Breach at Trustom Pond (RI) (8158421878).jpg | caption = Aerial view of the pond | image_bathymetry = | caption_bathymetry = |pushpin_map=Rhode Island | location = South Kingstown Washington County, Rhode Island | coords = {{Coord|41.3714905|-71.5825599|region:US-RI_type:waterbody_source:gnis|format=dms|display=inline,title}} | type = saline | inflow = ''precipitation'', ''groundwater'' | outflow = | catchment = {{convert|794|acre|abbr=on}}<ref name="stats"/> | basin_countries = United States | length = | width = | area = {{convert|180|acre|abbr=on}}<ref name="stats"/> | depth = {{convert|1.3|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name="stats"/> | max-depth = | volume = | residence_time = | shore = | elevation = {{convert|0|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="gnis"/> | frozen = | islands = | sections = | cities = | website = {{URL|https://www.fws.gov/refuge/trustom_pond/}} | reference = <ref name="stats">{{cite web|title=Trustom Pond General Features Data |publisher=Rhode Island South Shore Sea Grant |access-date=2009-05-25 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/trustom/trustomGFD.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908091929/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/trustom/trustomGFD.html |archive-date=September 8, 2008 }}, quoting RIGIS 2001 (area) and Lee 1980 (salinity)</ref><ref name="gnis">{{gnis|1217733|Trustom Pond}}</ref> }} [[File:Trustom Pond in the fog (12453p)2.jpg|thumb|Island in Trustom Pond with ospreys perched on a foggy morning]] '''Trustom Pond''' is a closed lagoon in South Kingstown, Washington County, Rhode Island, United States.<ref name="salt ponds">{{cite web|title=Salt Ponds of Rhode Island |publisher=Rhode Island Sea Grant |access-date=2009-05-25 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/bookstore/saltpond.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517014016/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/bookstore/saltpond.pdf |archive-date=May 17, 2008 }}</ref> It is one of nine coastal lagoons (referred to as "salt ponds" by locals) in southern Rhode Island.<ref>{{cite web|author=Donald Wyatt|title=Rhode Island's last execution|year=1995|publisher=FAQs.org|access-date=2009-05-25|url=http://www.faqs.org/abstracts/General-interest/The-salt-ponds-of-Rhode-Island-They-go-back-a-long-way.html}}</ref><ref>{{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|access-date=2009-05-25|url=http://www.dem.ri.gov/programs/benviron/water/permits/isds/pdfs/spnload.pdf}}</ref> It has a surface area of {{convert|800|acre}}, and is the only undeveloped salt pond in the state.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge|publisher=VisitRhodeIsland.com |access-date=2009-05-25|url=http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/bird-watching-and-nature-walks/1538/trustom-pond-national-wildlife-refuge/}}</ref> The pond averages {{convert|1.3|ft}} deep, and has a salinity level of 5 parts per thousand. It is non-tidal, except when breached by storms.<ref name="stats"/> The water directly receives about {{convert|219,844,022|USgal|m3|0}} of precipitation per year, with an estimated {{convert|796,215|USgal|m3|0}} in daily groundwater flow.<ref>{{cite web|title=Trustom Pond Freshwater Input Data |publisher=Rhode Island South Shore Sea Grant |access-date=2009-05-25 |url=http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/trustom/trustomFID.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716235002/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/trustom/trustomFID.html |archive-date=July 16, 2011 }}</ref> No streams flow into the pond, though a nearby stream "captures water that otherwise would have flowed to Trustom Pond".<ref>{{cite book|author=John P. Masterson, Jason R. Sorenson, Janet R. Stone, S. Bradley Moran, and Andrea Hougham|title=Hydrogeology and Simulated Groundwater Flow in the Salt Pond Region of Southern Rhode Island|year=2007|publisher=United States Geological Survey|isbn=978-1-4223-2575-9|page=30|url=https://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2006/5271/pdf/sir2006-5271.pdf}}</ref>
'''Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge''' is a National Wildlife Refuge, inhabited by an estimated 300 species of birds, as well as some 40 species of mammals and 20 species of reptiles and amphibians.<ref name="wildlife">{{cite web|title=Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge|publisher=U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service|access-date=December 25, 2019|url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Trustom_Pond/about.html}}</ref> As such, it is a popular bird-watching destination.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bird Watching & Wildlife Refuges |publisher=South County Tourism Council|access-date=2009-05-25|url=http://www.southcountyri.com/ViewListings.aspx?SectionID=1&SubNavID=27&ContentID=110}}</ref> The piping plover inhabits the site.<ref name=FactSheet>[https://www.fws.gov/uploadedFiles/Region_5/NWRS/North_Zone/Rhode_Island_Complex/TrustomPond2011.pdf Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge: Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex: Fact Sheet for Members of Congress], U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (November 2010).</ref> In 1974, {{convert|365|acre}} of land were donated to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; subsequent donations and purchases raised the protected area to {{convert|787|acre}}.<ref name="wildlife"/> In 2010, the wildlife refuge received approximately 70,000 visitors.<ref name=FactSheet/> Trustom Pond NWR includes {{convert|3|mi|km|lk=on}} of nature trails.<ref name=FactSheet/> Habitat areas within Trustom Pond NWR include fields, shrubland, woodland, freshwater pond, saltwater ponds, beaches, and sand dunes.<ref name="wildlife"/> Wildlife managers create breachways to the Block Island Sound, lowering water levels and creating mudflats which become feeding areas for waders.<ref>{{cite book|author=Mark Damian Duda and Robert Field|title=Watching Wildlife|year=1995|publisher=Globe Pequot|isbn=1-56044-315-4|page=80|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TM85vgAACAAJ}}</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|Rhode Island}} *List of lakes in Rhode Island *Geography of Rhode Island
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Rhode Island salt ponds}} *{{gnis|1217733|Trustom Pond}} * [https://www.fws.gov/refuge/trustom_pond/ Trustom Pond National Wildlife Refuge] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110716235019/http://seagrant.gso.uri.edu/coasts/trustom/trustmap.jpg Trustom Pond map]
{{RI salt ponds}} {{Waterbodies of Rhode Island}} {{Protected areas of Rhode Island}} {{National Wildlife Refuges of the United States}}
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Category:Landforms of Washington County, Rhode Island Category:Lagoons of Washington County, Rhode Island Category:Saline lakes of the United States Category:National Wildlife Refuges in Rhode Island Category:South Kingstown, Rhode Island Category:Protected areas of Washington County, Rhode Island Category:Wetlands of Rhode Island Category:Protected areas established in 1987 Category:1987 establishments in Rhode Island