Digital Commons Network^™

Technical Memorandum: Taunton River Assessment, Massachusetts Riverways Program

Reference Documents

No abstract provided.

An Initial Study Of Town Brook, West Yarmouth, Ma

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Students from the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional High School began a study this year of Town Brook in West Yarmouth, MA. This year’s activity was the start of what is intended to be a multi-year study of the brook and its associated ponds. The focus of the study was to examine the physical and biological characteristics of the brook as a means of helping to determine the fitness of the brook for the re-introduction of herring to the system.

Town Brook lies within a town conservation area and is supplied water from Little Sandy Pond. The pond is a kettle pond with …

Effects Of Runoff From Downtown Middleboro On The Nemasket River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Nemasket River Watershed has an area of approximately 7.5 square miles. Historically this river has been used for commerce and transportation, fishing and recreation and, more recently, as a sink for wastewater effluent and urban runoff.

Our investigation was to determine what effects, if any, the runoff from “urban” Middleboro was having on the water quality just downstream from the town center and it’s aquatic life.

Our hypothesis was that the downstream location would be impacted from the increased runoff from the urban setting. The increase in pollution would be due to the increase in imperviousness of the urban …

A Water Quality Study Of The Braintree Farm River

Watershed Access Lab Projects

This water quality study was conducted on the Farm River in Braintree, Massachusetts. The Farm River is classified as a Class B, Warm Water Fisheries River. The river drains an area of 7.9 square miles and is part of the Fore River Watershed (a sub watershed of the Boston Basin), which includes parts of eight surrounding cities and towns. It is a 2.7 mile segment that originates from an outlet of the Great Pond in the Blue Hills of Braintree. At the Braintree Golf Course, it joins with the Cochato River to form the headwaters of the Monatiquot.

During the …

Marina Bay: A Glimpse At The Neponset River Watershed

Watershed Access Lab Projects

This presentation was prepared as an overview of a six-month study conducted by the eighth-grade Girls’ Environmental Group at Atlantic Middle School in North Quincy. Due to lack of additional staff and large numbers of students, this smaller group of 15 girls was formed as an after school group which also sometimes met on Saturdays for the purpose of sampling. The girls decided that their goal for the group was to learn how to monitor a specific environmental site, and to learn more about their own neighborhood. This included acquiring an understanding of history of the area, both in terms …

Ten Mile River Study

Watershed Access Lab Projects

In the past year, North Attleboro High School’s environmental science class has been conducting an intense study of the Ten Mile River. The focus of our study is to find out detailed information regarding the biological, physical, and chemical state of the river.

The Ten Mile River is the main river within North Attleboro. It runs down to Narragansett Bay and flows through many other local towns. The watersheds are located in North Attleboro and Plainville. The river begins at Cargill Pond in Plainville and flows 61 miles through North Attleboro, Attleboro, Plainville, and Seekonk before going into Rhode Island. …

Third Herring Brook Watershed

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Six freshman students from Norwell High School examined the Third Herring Brook Watershed during the spring of 2004. The students were split into three groups, each group taking a different topic. One set studied Nitrate and Phosphorus levels, another studied temperature, pH and physical characteristics of the watershed, while the third performed Fecal coliform tests. All levels were determined to be acceptable, although there is evidence that the contamination levels between site 1 (upstream) and site 2 (downstream) increase, possibly due to the stream passing by athletic fields, high school sewage treatment and a commercial use property.

Samples were sent …

How Does Land Use Affect The Chemistry Of The Water Of Fall Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of this study was to find out how land use affects the water quality of Fall Brook. Fall Brook runs from Tispaquin Pond to the Nemasket River, and we tested two sites for NO₃ –N, Nitrate, and PO₄-P, Reactive Phosphorous. Fall Brook begins at Gibbs Road, and samples of the water were taken from Wareham Street, and Old Bridge Street. Residential areas, a farm, and an active cranberry bog are some of the surroundings at the Wareham Street site. The site at Old Bridge Street runs through agricultural areas and an Ocean Spray Plant.

Our …

Eel River Examination

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The purpose of our study was to observe the changes in the Eel River over the course of a school year. These changes were to include the river’s profile, depth, flow, phosphorus and nitrogen compound loads, temperature, pH, and levels of oxygen. This examination was conducted by an after school group comprised of a dozen 7th and 8th grade students of Judy Bradley and Sharon Jeffery from Plymouth South Middle School.

Eel River has been the site of human habitation and use since ancient times. Native Americans used the area as a seasonal village. Artifacts and human remains have been …

A Closer Look: Second Herring Brook

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Turbidity: An In-Depth Look At Long Pond

Watershed Access Lab Projects

In the summer of 2003, I noticed that the clarity of the water of Long Pond seemed murky with a brownish hue. I remembered as a kid being able to travel around the pond and see the bottom. Back then the water seemed much clearer, which is what provoked me to look further into the causes of the increase of turbidity of Long Pond.

To measure turbidity I used a simple Secchi disk that I made out of the bottom of a bucket and some rope. The rope was marked every six inches and was fourteen feet in overall length. …

The Agawam River Study

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Do We See Feces?: Loon Pond 2003-2004

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Loon Pond is a small spring fed pond about thirty-two feet deep. The pond’s surface area is 0.69 square miles and the sub-basin is 3.10 square miles. The deepest point is thirty-eight feet. The pond provides the residents with recreational opportunities, such as swimming, fishing, and canoeing. Loon Pond’s shore is a mixture of forest and low density residential. There are 35 homes around the pond, the majority being summer residences.

This past summer (2003) the pond was closed to swimming due to an enterococci count of 121 colonies/100ml as reported in the New Bedford Department Laboratory Division Recreational Water …

Friedman's Bugwatch Water Quality Study - An Update

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Bugwatch is a water quality study program that has been conducted at Friedman and Martin Middle Schools in Taunton since 2000. Friedman volunteered to participate in this previously federally-funded water quality study of two local tributaries that discharge into the Taunton River. These tributaries are Church Brook and the Cotley River located in the eastern portion of Taunton. We may add the Three Mile River; which is located behind Friedman, to our study program at a later date.

Bugwatch is one major educational activity conducted in our Outdoor Education Program each year. During the fall, our Outdoor Education students capture …

Milfoil: Man's Best Friend

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Fall Brook is located off of Route 140 in Lakeville, about two miles away from Apponequet High School. It is a third order stream with a sub-basin area of 10.31 square miles and flows into Long Pond. Fall Brook has been studied previously due to a milfoil infestation along some of its reaches. We chose to study whether this infestation has progressed further downstream and if there is any effect on the water quality.

Data collected for nutrients, pH, DO and temperature do not indicate that conditions have changed appreciably since 2002-2003 (year of last study). Nutrient data showed overall …

The Quequechan River Project: A Study Of The Effects Of Burying A River Underground

Watershed Access Lab Projects

No abstract provided.

Hanson Riverwater Iii: Indian Head River Study Year 3

Watershed Access Lab Projects

The Indian Head River is part of the large and complex system of streams and rivers, which contribute to the South Coastal Plain Watershed. A portion of the river forms the border to the Town of Hanson from where it flows into the main stem of the North River. Further upstream, the river is called the Drinkwater which itself drains into Factory Pond directly upstream of our study site A.

Historically the Indian Head, its headwaters and tributaries provided an important fishery for alewives, shad and rainbow smelt. However, the river suffered much the same as other river systems in …

Assonet River: Foaming At The Mouth

Watershed Access Lab Projects

Assonet River has a stream order of three, with tributaries including Cedar Swamp and Holloway Brook. The sub-basin area of the river is around 29.8 square miles and is part of the Taunton River Watershed. The land use of the surrounding area is largely domestic, ranging from low density to high density housing. The Assonet River is used for canoeing, fishing, swimming, boating and other forms of aquatic recreation. The river runs closely along the main transportation routes 140 and 79. The river has four dams, which alter the turbidity and flow. Historically, these dams were used to power mills. …

Chronological Patterns Of Emergence Of Dragonflies In Carver Pond, Bridgewater, Ma, Chris Haslam

Undergraduate Review

In this study larval skins of dragonflies were collected counted and studied in order to find peaks and patterns of emergence and correlate with environmental factors. One of the most important stages of the life of a dragonfly is the time when it changes from a larval aquatic insect into a flying adult. This stage takes place when the dragonfly emerges out of its skin called the exuvia. Exuvia were collected from two sites at Carver Pond, Bridgewater, Massachusetts to determine differences in species emergence patterns from May 26, 2003 to July 18, 2003 and correlated with environmental conditions. Peak …