WATER RESOURCES in the BLACKSTONE RIVER BASIN, MASSACHUSETTS by Eugene H
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Ground Water 1983 - 1 - CONTENTS SHEET 1 Page Abstract--------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 Introduction----------------------------------------------------------------- 7 Surface water---------------------------------------------------------------- 12 High streamflow---------------------------------------------------------- 13 Low streamflow----------------------------------------------------------- 15 Stream-gaging stations--------------------------------------------------- 17 SHEET 2 Ground water----------------------------------------------------------------- 19 General hydrogeology----------------------------------------------------- 19 Recharge of ground water------------------------------------------------- 24 Potential yield of the sand and gravel aquifer--------------------------- 29 Yields of wells from the bedrock aquifer--------------------------------- 31 Selected references---------------------------------------------------------- 34 - 2 - ILLUSTRATIONS SHEET I Page Figure 1. Location of the Blackstone River basin in Massachusetts------------ 10 2. Population density of towns and cities in the Blackstone River basin in Massachusetts, 1975------------------------------------- 10 3. Annual cycle of stream runoff and ground-water levels--------------- 11 4. Flow-duration curves for selected sites: a. Kettle Brook at Worcester-------------------------------------- 12 b. Blackstone River at Northbridge-------------------------------- 12 c. Quinsigamond River at North Grafton---------------------------- 12 d. West River below West Hill Dam, near Uxbridge------------------ 12 5. Flood hydrographs of the 1955 flood on Kettle Brook and Blackstone River------------------------------------------------- 13 6. Annual peak and flood volume frequency curves a. Kettle Brook at Worcester-------------------------------------- 13 b. Blackstone River at Northbridge-------------------------------- 13 c. Quinsigamond River at North Grafton---------------------------- 13 d. West River below West Hill Dam, near Uxbridge------------------ 13 7. Low flow frequency curves: a. Kettle Brook at Worcester--------------------------------------- 15 b. Blackstone River at Northbridge--------------------------------- 15 c. Quinsigamond River at North Grafton----------------------------- 15 d. West River below West Hill Dam, near Uxbridge------------------- 15 8. Locations of law streamflow of discharge-measurement sites--------- 16 - 3 - ILLUSTRATIONS (continued) SHEET 2 (continued) Page Figure 9. Areas favorable for developing ground water----------------------- 21 10. Water-level fluctuation in observation well Northbridge 1--------- 24 11 . Movement of ground water near a stream and a pumping well---------- 25 12. Yields of public-supply wells in the sand and gravel aquifer------ 26 13. Specific capacities of public-supply wells in sand and gravel aquifer-------------------------------------~-------- 27 14 . Saturated thickness of the sand and gravel aquifer at public-supply wells and well yields----------------------------- 28 15 . Pumpage of water for public supply in 1978------------------------ 32 TABLE Page Table 1. Pumpage of water for public supply in 1978------------------------ 33 - 4 - FACTORS FOR CONVERTING INCH-POUND UNITS TO INTERNATIONAL SYSTEM OF UNITS (SI), WITH ABBREVIATIONS Multiply inch-pound units By To obtain SI Units Length inch (in) 25.4 millimeter (rrm) foot ( ft) 0.3048 meter (m) mile (mi) 1.609 kilometer (km) Area square mile (mi2) 2.590 square kilometer (km2) acre 4047 square meter (2) 0.4047 hectometer (hm2) Volume ga 11 on (gal) 3. 785 X lQ-3 cubic meter (m3) million gallons (Mgal) 3. 785 X lQ-3 cubic hectometers (hm3) million gallons ~er square cubic hectometer~ per square mile (Mgal/mi ) 1. 461 X lQ-3 kilometer (hm /km2) Flow cubic foot per second (ft3/s) 0.02832 cubic meter per second (m3/s) cubic foot per second per cubic meter per ~econd ~e~ square square mile /{ft3/s)/mi2 7 0.01093 kilometer /{m /s)/km I gallon per minute (gal/minT 0.06309 liter per second (L/s) - 6.309 X lQ-5 cubic meter per second (m3/s) gallon per day (gal/d) 3.785 liter per day (L/d) 3.785 x Io-3 cubic meter per day (m3/d) million gallons per day (Mgal/d) 43.81 liter per second (L/s) 0.04381 cubic meter per second (m3/s) million gallons £er day per liter per second per sgu~re square mile {(Mgal/d)/mi2_7 16.91 kilometer /{L/s)/km2 I 0.01691 cubic meter per second per square kilometer (m3/s)km2 Hydrau 1i c units foot per second (ft/s) 0.3048 meter per second (m/s) square foot per day (ft2/d) 0.0929 square meter per day (m2/d) Temperature degree Fahrenheit (OF) 5/9 (°F -32) degree Celsius (OC) Specific Capacity gallon per minute per foot liter per second per meter LT ga 1/min) If!} 0.2070 L{L/s)/rJ]_/ Specific Conductance micromhos per centimeter microsiemens per centimeter at at 25°C (umhos/cm at 250C) 1 25oc (uS/em at 250C) - 5 - WATER RESOURCES IN THE BLACKSTONE RIVER BASIN, MASSACHUSETTS By Eugene H. Walker and Bruce E. Krejmas ABSTRACT Th e Blackstone River heads in brooks 6 miles northwest of Worcester and drains about 330 square miles of central Massachusetts before crossing into Rhode Island at Woonsocket. The primary source of the Worcester water supply is reservoirs, but for the remaining 23 communities in the basin, the primary source is wells. Bedrock consists of granitic and metamorphic rocks. Till mantles the uplands and extends beneath stratified drift in the valleys. Stratified glacial drift, consisting of cl~, silt, and fine sand deposited in lakes and coarse-textured sand and gravel deposited by streams, is found in lowlands and valleys. The bedrock aquifer is capable of sustaining rural domestic suppl ies throughout the Blackstone River basin. Bedrock wells yield an average of 10 gallons per minute, but some wells, especially those in lowlands where bedrock probably contains more fractures and receives more recharge than in the upland areas, yield as much as 100 gallons per minute. Glacial sand and gravel is the principal aquifer. It is capable of sustaining municipal supplies. Average daily pumpage from this aquifer in the Blackstone River basin was 10.4 million gallons per day in 1978. The median yield of large-diameter wells in the aquifer is 325 gallons per minute. The range of yields from these wells is 45 to 3,300 gallons per minute. The median specific capacity is about 30 gallons per minute per foot of drawdown. - 6 - INTRODUCTION This report describes streamflow, ground-water resources, and pumpage of water for public supply in the Blackstone River basin in Massachusetts. The report is intended to provide information for development and management of water resources. Current increases in population, per capita use, and industrial activity is increasing demand for water. Water demand is growing most rapidly in the towns outside of Worcester, all of which obtain their water supplies from wells. The report is one of a series of map reports prepared in cooperation with the Massachusetts Water Resources Commission, that describes the water resources of major river basins in the State. The Blackstone River heads in brooks 6 miles northwest of Worcester and f lows southeast to enter Rhode Island just upstream from Woonsocket. The river drains about 330 mi 2 in Massachusetts, which includes parts or all of 29 towns and the city of Worcester. Kettle Brook, the headwater of the Blackstone River, rises in Paxton on the west slope of Little Asnebumskit Hill at an elevation of about 1,300 feet. The Blackstone River begins in the southern part of Worcester at the confluence of the Mill River, a stream that runs southward through Worcester, and the Middle River formed by Kettle Brook and other brooks from the west and north. At this point, the elevation of the Blackstone River is 490 feet. The river flows southeast 31 miles through a narrow valley surrounded by till and bedrock uplands to the Rhode Island line. There, the elevation of the river is 160 feet. The overall gradient is about 10 feet per mile. - 7 - Several streams are tributary to the Blackstone River between Worcester and the Rhode Island State line: the Quinsigamond, Mumford, West, Mill, and, finally, the Peters River, just upstream from the Rhode Island line. Streams draining from the western uplands tend to have steep gradients. The elevation of Singletary Brook, for example, decreases from about 700 feet at its origin in the uplands of Sutton to 385 feet at its confluence with the Blackstone River 5-1/2 miles to the east. The gradient of the brook is 57ft/mi. The Blackstone River basin is underlain by granite and metamorphic rocks such as granite gneiss, schist, slate, and quartzite. These rock formations have been deformed and consolidated by folding and recrystallization. The advance of ice during continental glaciation, which eroded hills and deposited till, produced many drumlin-type elliptical hills whose long axes generally trend north-south. Erosion overdeepened