Had it not been for the stimulus, I would not know there is such a thing as a “fish ladder.” From the Providence Journal:

For years, a consortium of government agencies and advocacy groups has struggled for funding to knock down dams and build fish ladders to help restore local fish migrations. That work was jump-started on Tuesday when the federal government came forward with $3 million in stimulus money for six projects on the Ten Mile and Pawcatuck rivers.
When the work is done, fish will be able to migrate all the way up the Pawcatuck from Watch Hill, in Westerly, to Worden Pond, in South Kingstown.
In East Providence, the 30-year campaign by volunteers to lift spawning herring one bucket at a time over the Omega Dam may finally come to an end. A fish ladder will be built there and at two other locations upstream.
In all, the money will open up 13 miles of rivers and streams and 1,640 acres of spawning habitat, including Worden, the state’s largest freshwater pond.
The grants, announced by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, were among awards totaling $167 million for habitat restoration work around the country. They were welcomed warmly in Rhode Island.
“Some people have been waiting for 12 years for Omega Pond,” said Keith Gonsalves, president of the Ten Mile River Watershed Council. “Anything positive is good news.”