Thames River Watershed

In the ames River watershed, the valleys of the Quinebaug and Shetucket rivers are designated by the U.S. Congress as a National Heritage Corridor known as the Last Green Valley—a place where natural and cultural resources combine to form a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape.

Shetucket River

Watershed n. e geographic area of land, also called a drainage Quinebaug River Yantic River Norwich basin, that receives and drains rainwater and melting snow into a specic body of water such as a river, lake or estuary. Every body of water has its own watershed, and smaller watersheds are joined together to form larger watersheds. ames River Watershed of the Thames North Canaan Hartland Colebrook Barkhamsted Reservoir Somers Union Salisbury Norfolk Suffield Enfield Stafford Thompson rom the Norwich waterfront, the ames River ows falling in the watershed runs o roads, parking lots, farms, Granby Woodstock Canaan Connecticut River West Branch Farmington River Windsor Locks Scantic River Winchester Barkhamsted East Granby Housatonic River Ellington Putnam south 16 miles to Long Island Sound. Measured by the lawns, and other surfaces. As the water runs over the ground East Windsor Willimantic River Eastford Canton Simsbury Windsor Tolland Ashford Pomfret Willington Quinebaug River F Sharon Natchaug River Cornwall Goshen Farmington River Torrington New Hartford Bloomfield South Windsor Vernon Killingly volume of fresh water it empties into the Sound, the ames and into storm drains, it picks up pollutants such as oil, 291 Chaplin West Hartford ¨¦§ Avon Coventry Mansfield Thames Brooklyn Connecticut Manchester 3 Burlington Hartford Bolton Hampton is the third largest river in Connecticut—behind the Con- sand, debris, pesticides, bacteria from animal waste and Warren Litchfield Harwinton 4 East Hartford Kent Housatonic Farmington Andover Scotland Wethersfield 6 Windham Canterbury Sterling Newington Columbia Plainfield Morris Naugatuck River New Britain Glastonbury Shetucket River necticut and Housatonic. An intricate web of tributaries nutrients from fertilizer. is runo pollution can make its Thomaston Quinnipiac RiverRocky Hill Washington Plymouth Bristol Plainville Mattabesset River Hebron Sprague Marlborough Lebanon Voluntown Housatonic River Bethlehem Franklin Lisbon Griswold feeds into the ames from the north, including the Quine- way to the ames and eventually to Long Island Sound. Watertown Southington Berlin Cromwell Portland Pachaug River New Milford Wolcott Yantic River 395 Sherman ¨¦§ Connecticut River Woodbury Waterbury Roxbury 691 East Hampton Colchester Norwich ¨¦§Meriden Middletown Bozrah baug, Shetucket, and Yantic rivers. e ames watershed Hudson Bridgewater Middlebury Preston 8 Cheshire Middlefield Eightmile River Lake Candlewood Prospect Pawcatuck Southbury Naugatuck North Stonington 1 New Fairfield East Haddam Salem Brookfield 84 Quinnipiac River Haddam Montville Thames River of 1,500 square miles covers most of eastern Connecticut Long Island Sound depends on the environmental quality of ¨¦§ Beacon Falls Wallingford Durham Ledyard Oxford BethanyHamden Hammonasset River East Lyme Pawcatuck River Danbury Newtown Housatonic River South Central Coast Chester Southeast Coast Lyme Southeast Coast and parts of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Within the its tributaries and watersheds. If the water owing into the 5 Killingworth 2 Bethel Seymour Deep River 2 Saugatuck River North HavenNorth BranfordLake Gaillard Woodbridge Essex Waterford Groton Stonington Monroe Ansonia GuilfordMadison Connecticut River New London Hudson Derby 91 Old Saybrook Old Lyme watershed, rainwater and melting snow drain o the land, Sound is polluted, the water we swim in and sh we eat will New Haven¨¦§ 8 Ridgefield Redding Shelton East Haven ClintonWestbrook Orange Branford Easton Trumbull West Haven Mill River pulled downhill by gravity to the ames and ultimately be polluted too. Alone, each source of runo pollution has only Milford Legend Wilton Weston Stratford Southwest Coast FairfieldBridgeport Connecticut 7 into Long Island Sound. a small impact, but the cumulative impacts of many sources New Canaan Westport 95 Housatonic StamfordRippowam River ¨¦§ Norwalk Hudson throughout the watershed can be signicant. Everyone can Darien Greenwich Pawcatuck South Central Coast ere is a vital relationship linking the ames, its watershed help reduce runo pollution, simply by being aware of how Southeast Coast Southwest Coast and Long Island Sound. An arm of the sea, the ames is watersheds work. Everyday water-friendly practices, such as Thames an estuary where salt water from the Sound mixes with fresh proper disposal of pet waste and limited use of fertilizers Major Connecticut Watersheds water from the watershed. As the tide rises and falls twice and pesticides, help keep Norwich Harbor, the ames River Watershed map: Courtesy of e Last Green Valley, Inc. each day along the entire length of the river, precipitation and Long Island Sound clean for people, sh and wildlife. State watershed map: Courtesy of State of Connecticut Department of Energy C I and Environmental Protection (DEEP) T

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C Aerial photo: Courtesy of G. Steadman I

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is project by the Norwich Harbor Management Commission was funded E R

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L by the Long Island Sound Study, Long Island Sound Futures Fund. Norwich on the Harbor N