Rivers

• Two rivers surround the greater East Providence region. A tidal extension of the Blackstone River, the Seeknonk River flows south between Providence and East Providence. Used heavily for industrial dumping, the Blackstone River was called the most polluted river in the U.S. by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1990. The Ten Mile River forms a boundary between Massachusetts and Rhode Island along the northern edge of East Providence. It had also been badly polluted due to industry, but a concerted cleanup effort removed much of the toxic sediment.
  
  

Ponds

• Located along the Ten Mile River, the Omega Pond is used for drinking water in Providence County. The construction of the man-made pond was completed in 1918, and the pond now stretches across 35 acres. Part of the James V. Turner reservoir, the Central Pond runs along the Kimberly Ann Rock Athletic Fields and Seacunke Sanctuary between the Rhode Island and Massachusetts border. Olney Pond, part of the Lincoln Woods State Park, sits to the north of East Providence, and was completed in 1883.
  
  

Coves

• Watchemoket Cove, a popular fishing spot in the East Providence district of Watchemoket, sits alongside the Metacomet Golf Club and connects to Providence Harbor. Located in the southern most district of Riverside, Bullock Cove sits alongside the East Bay Bike Path and Tall Cedars park. The Hundred Acres Cover, across from Riverside, connects to the Barrington River, known for its shellfishing.
  
  

Health Hazard

• In August 2010, the Rhode Island Departments of Environmental Management and Health released a joint statement warning against drinking, swimming or fishing in several bodies of water in East Providence due to a toxic algae bloom, reported the Providence Journal. The Ten Mile River, Central Pond, Turner Reservoir and Omega Pond had all been tainted by a blue-green algae known as microcystis, which can cause stomach cramps, fever and muscle pain. The Health Department released a statement in October 2010 saying that algae levels had returned to safe levels, but warned that the algae could return.