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Geographic Information Systems Mapping Resources for Watershed Management

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Geographic Information Systems Mapping Resources for Watershed Management DOWNSTREAM Page Fall 2006 Geographic Information Systems Mapping Resources for Watershed Management The image at left is an orthophotograph (an aerial picture transformed so that it can be used as a map) of the Wachusett Reservoir’s Thomas Basin. The topographic map on the right shows the same area; it not only provides directions, but also presents natural, scientific and cultural expressions of the landscape. Map by DCR/DWSP and MassGIS A good map tells a story about a place. Modern cartographers use computerized Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to process a wide range of data in order to convey tales about our world. DCR’s Office of Watershed Management (OWM) has been utilizing this technology for over twenty years to help maintain the purity of the drinking water in the Quabbin and Wachusett Reservoirs. The following are some of the many ways that OWM uses GIS in its daily operations. What is GIS “GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.” (excerpt from www.gis.com, an excellent source of introductory GIS material). GIS is distinct from other computerized drawing programs in its ability to integrate data with geospatial references in order to analyze and model information. The mapping element can be GIS MAPPING - SEE PAGE 3 NUMBER 16 - SPECIAL INSERT - Fall 2006 Quabbin Public Access Plan Summary In This Issue: As the Autumn leaves fall, the air is crisp, Watershed Management GIS 1 A glimpse into computerized mapping the insect population thins, and DCR field The Legend of Swamp Mine Brook 2 staff find it easier to make their way into the A spooky tale from bygone days woods to check on forest health. The The Quabbin Bathymetry project 4 feature story in this issue of Downstream Mapping under the Quabbin Reservoir focuses on a mapping resource that has Quabbin Access Plan Summary - become a valuable tool for watershed Department of Conservation Special Insert management. Read on and see how and Recreation Where in the world? 7 Geographic Information Systems serve as Division of Water Supply A kids corner mapping exercise a guide to land preservation and mainte- Protection Sanitary Surveys 100 years ago 8 nance of high water quality standards. www.mass.gov/dcr/ Early reports on source water monitoring waterSupply.htm DOWNSTREAM Page2 Fall 2006 The Legend of Mine Swamp Brook A spooky tale for a dark and stormy night... Photos, DCR/DWSP I n the days before the construction of story of two young girls named Mary and trampled. There was also one event where the Wachusett Reservoir (completed in Charlotte Sawyer, who were visiting it was unclear why a horse became so 1906), the banks along the Nashua River friends in Boylston and were riding frightened that it and its cart veered off from the northern end of Boylston to the together on the same horse. The story the trail into a wall. goes that their trusted old horse was Clinton town line had become a place Also attributed to the area’s bad luck were trying to cross the swollen Mine Swamp known for stories of bad luck, and over 100 cases of malaria contracted along Brook during a heavy rain storm when it superstition. The following legend may the banks of the Nashua River during slipped on the mossy rocks and fell into help explain why people felt this way construction. There was also an incident the rushing waters. Both girls were lost in about an otherwise quiet country valley. in the winter of 1895 when one of the the torrent and drowned. After that time, laborers for the Wachusett Reservoir had Thomas Cunningham was a Scotsman some claimed that on quiet nights they a narrow escape from drowning. The who was involved in local commerce and could still hear the galloping of the old worker had crossed the river in a small industry around the time of the Civil War. horse, possibly in search of its young boat to a tool house to pick up some Most notably, he constructed a picnic riders. grove on land along the Nashua River. equipment. While inside the tool house, The grounds became famous for summer Not long after the sad fate of the Sawyer his boat slipped its line and began to float clam bakes where visitors could arrive by girls, an unknown man was found lying on away. In an effort to retrieve it, the worker a steamboat which travelled the river. The a roadside in the Burdett Hill area of stepped out onto a patch of ice hoping to hillside that served as a backdrop for the Clinton. The man, suffering from reach the boat, but the ice gave way and grounds is now an island known as smallpox, was taken to a nearby house he fell into the water. Another laborer who Cunningham’s Ledge. Adjacent to the where he soon died. He was never well saw the event, got another boat and ledge Mr. Cunningham ran a mill that was enough to give his name and was rescued him. The man in the icyThese water had powered by “Mine Swamp Brook” which anonymously buried nearby. been clinging onto a chunk of iceimages and was fed into the Nashua River. At the time, the too cold to swim any longer whenshow he was the As construction of the Wachusett old Scar ravine in which Mine Swamp Brook could finally pulled to safety. Reservoir commenced in the 1890s, the Hill Road be found was remote and there were few unfortunate incidents continued. In this Today the small valley known forbridge. bad luck houses in the area. particular area of reservoir construction, rests deep under the surface of theSide-scan Those who were superstitious believed there were of number murders and Wachusett Reservoir. Some still say that that this place was haunted due to assaults among the workers. Several when conditions are just right, one can numerous unfortunate events that took accidents were documented involving hear the galloping of a horse, maybe in place. One significant such event is the horse and cart, with workers being search of its riders. - Kelley Freda - DCR Environmental Analyst DOWNSTREAM Page3 Fall 2006 GIS MAPPING - FROM PAGE 1 most critical lands in the Wachusett also available on the web at conceptualized as layers of information, Reservoir watershed. This GIS guided www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/ manipulated to create a visual perception strategy has allowed OWM to maximize watershed/wspa.htm. of an area. The associated data can then each dollar it spends on land. answer questions about the place (see box Natural Resource below). GIS is a powerful tool that is used Watershed Protection Act Management by millions of people worldwide in all Another element to OWM’s success in DCR owns over 100,000 acres of land in sectors of business and government. maintaining water quality has been the the Quabbin Reservoir/Wachusett Watershed Protection Act (WsPA). This Reservoir watershed system. Managing Land Acquisition set of laws regulates land use in the the natural resources over this vast area is The Office of Watershed Management has Quabbin Reservoir, Ware River, and an important aspect to water quality spent $118 million since 1985 to acquire Wachusett Reservoir watersheds, maintenance. OWM Foresters utilize GIS 20,000 acres of land. These purchases primarily within 400 feet of the reservoirs to identify, map, and track timber cutting were not random; GIS modeling of key and their tributaries. The use of GIS in the contracts, as well as monitoring the health land characteristics, such as hydrography, mid-1990s to identify regulated areas for of the watersheds’ forest and maintaining topography, and ownership, helped focus the implementation of the WsPA was a boundaries. Dan Clark, OWM’s Wildlife the agency’s acquisitions. According to pioneering example of this technology’s Biologist, uses GIS to track a variety of Jim French, OWM Land Acquisition power. GIS continues to be a crucial tool species. “GIS helps me monitor Coordinator, “GIS has been key to our for the enforcement of these regulations. population, impacts on water quality, and success in protecting critical parcels for Nancy McGrath, Regional Planner in the OWM’s subsequent land and wildlife water quality.” The Watershed Land OWM Wachusett Section, notes that, “the management decisions for beavers, deer, Sensitivity Index is an analysis developed GIS mapping of tributaries, regulatory moose, aquatic mammals, and vernal by the OWM GIS staff that depicts how buffers, property boundaries, and pools.” important a piece of property is in regards ownership information is the cornerstone to its water yield and pollution buffering to communication with the public that is Environmental Quality capacity. While DCR has increased its effected by WsPA.” An program showing The Quabbin Reservoir, Ware River, and percentage of land in the Wachusett Watershed Protection Act buffers is Wachusett Reservoir watersheds Reservoir watershed from 8% to 26%, the available on-line at http://maps.massgis. encompass over 250,000 acres of water Watershed Land Sensitivity Index of state.ma.us/mdc_wspa/pages/main.jsp; and land. This 400 square mile watershed critical lands has jumped to 37% of the more detailed information on the Act is GIS MAPPING - CONTINUED ON PAGE 6 What’s in a GIS map? GIS can create a complex map comprised of several layers of data. For example, the first five images to the right show a variety of information Seagullsabout one spotted place, by as the Cosgrove intake. described in its title. When the layers are Parcels Wildlife Habitat Hydrography combined together, as seen Water Resource Buffer Open Space in the last map on the lower right, sophisticated analyses can be performed, both visually and with further computer assistance.
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