Compilation of Lakes, Ponds, Reservoirs and Impoundments The Massachusetts Clean Lakes Program Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering DIVISION of WATER POLLUTION CONTROL . Thomas C. McMahon, Director COMPILATIONOF LAKES, PONDS, RESERVOIRS ANDIMPOUNDMENTS RELATIVE TO THE MASSACHUSETTSLAKE CLASSIFICATION PROGRAM By Michael T. Ackerman Sanitary Biologist Richard A. Batiuk Assistant Sanitary Engineering Aide and Therese M. Beaudoin Assistant Sanitary Engineering Aide TECHNICALSERVICES BRANCH MASSACHUSETTSDIVISION OF WATERPOLLUTION CONTROL DEPARTMENTOF ENVIRONMENTALQUALITY ENGINEERING WESTBOROUGH,MASSACHUSETTS August 1984 Cover Cover designed by Barbara J. Kimball TAJlLE OF CONTENTS ITEM PAGE FOREWORD V ACKNOWLEGMENTS vi ABSTRACT vii LIST OF TAJlLES viii LIST OF FIGURES ix INTRODUCTIONAND OBJECTIVES l PROCEDURE 3 LISTING OF LAKES, PONDS, RESERVOIRS, AND IMPOUNDMENTS 5 Hudson Drainage System 5 Hoosic River Basin 5 Kinderhook and Bashbish River Basins 7 Housatonic Drainage System 10 Housatonic River Basin 10 Connecticut Drainage System 17 Farmington River Basin 17 Westfield River Basin 21 Deerfield River Basin 26 Connecticut River Basin 28 Millers River Basin 34 Chicopee River Basin 40 Thames Drainage System 49 Quinebaug River Basin 49 French River Basin 53 Narragansett Bay Drainage System 57 Blackstone River Basin 57 Ten Mile River Basin 67 Narragansett Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 70 iii TABLE OF CONTENTS(CONTINUED) ITEi! PAGE Mount Hope Bay Drainage System 72 Mount Hope Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 72 Taunton River Basin 74 Boston Harbor Drainage System P,6 Mystic River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 86 Charles River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 90 Neponset River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area g.g Weymouth and Weir River Basins and Coastal Drainage Area lo:! Merrimack Drainage System l O!i Nashua River Basin lO!i Concord River Basin 114 Shawsheen River Basin 12· Merrimack River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 12:1 Coastal Drainage System 12!1 Parker River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 12n Ipswich River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 13(1 North Shore Coastal Drainage Area 13:1 South Shore Coastal Drainage Area 14 l Buzzards Bay Coastal Drainage Area 15(1 Cape Cod Coastal Drainage Area 15S Islands Coastal Drainage Area l 7E REFERENCES l 8~ APPENDIX 1: Numerical Index to Massachusetts United States 184 Geological Survey Topographic Maps APPENDIX 2: Great Ponds of Massachusetts 187 APPENDIX 3: City and Town Index to River Basins l BE: iv FOREWORD The many lakes, ponds, reservoirs and impoundments of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts rep~esent a considerable natural resource. These waterbodies are present in considerable numbers and encompass a wide diversity of fonns in our environment. This wealth of waterbodies provide a myriad of poten­ tial uses to the ,esidents of Massachusetts. These uses can range from industrial through recreational and may include power generation, cooling water, process water, fire protection, effluent assimilation, irrigation supply, wildlife management, fishing, boating, swimming, skating, and aesthetics. It is one of the primary responsibilities of the Massachusetts Division of Water Pollution Control (MDWPC)to monitor, regulate and report on the quality and condition of these waterbodies within Massachusetts. In carrying out this responsibility, the previous compilation report (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1976) has been revised, expanded and updated. The format of this previous report was changed to make it easier to use and several appendixes have been added to access information in a more efficient manner. This revised compilation report represents an evolving and integral informa­ tion management tool for MDWPCin executing its responsibility to monitor, regulate and report on the water quality of the waterbodies within Massachusetts. V ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The authors wish to acknowledge the assistance and support received throughout the preparation of this report from many people. Grateful acknowledgment is made to both Alan N. Cooperman and Arthur J. Screpetis for their assistance in formulating the scope of the revisions and expansions of this document. Special recognition is due to each of the colleagues and associates who have pro­ vided a helping hand with the various steps in preparing this report: Aline L. Charest, Theresa A. Vigneault, Anne Pavone, Kimberly A. Temple, Eben W. Chesebrough, Brian F. Friedmann, Barbara J. Kimball, Wendy L, Norton, and Diana 11. Sauer vi ABSTRACT An alphabetical listing, by drainage system and river basin, of 2,878 named lakes, pond, reservoirs, and impoundments in Massachusetts was compiled from currently available information and verified from the most recent revision of available United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic maps (Appendix 1). The hydro­ logical division of the state into nine drainage systems (Figure 1) comprising 32 river basins and coastal drainage areas (Figure 2) uses a system previously developed by Halliwell, Kimball, and Screpetis (1982). Each of the 32 river basin and coastal drainage area listings of waterbodies are accompanied by a watershed map depicting both major water courses and waterbodies. These watershed maps also provide other pertinent information such as adjoining river basin and coastal drainage area divides, municipal and state boundaries, and the location of the watershed within the state. Individual waterbodies are listed alphabetically within each river basin, These individual waterbody listings provide the accepted name, the common name (in parentheses), the date the pond was surveyed by the MDWPC Technical Services Branch, a unique computer code number (PALIS number) for data access, the municipality(ies) where the waterbody can be found, the size of the waterbody, and coded USGS map(s) locations. Recognized Great Ponds (Appendix 2) are noted by an asterisk following the accepted name, Also, an index associating each municipality with the appropriate river basin is provided as Appendix 3. vii LIST OF TABLES NUMBER TITLE PAGE 1 Hoosic River Basin 6 2 Kinderhook River Basin 8 3 Bashbish River Basin 9 4 Housatonic River Basin 11 5 Farmington River Basin 18 6 Westfield River Basin 22 7 Deerfield River Basin 27 8 Connecticut River Basin 29 9 Millers River Basin 35 IO Chicopee River Basin 41 11 Quinebaug River Basin 50 12 French River Basin 54 13 Blackstone River Basin 53 14 Ten Mile River Basin 68 15 Narragansett Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 71 16 Mount Hope Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 73 17 Taunton River Basin 75 18 Mystic River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 87 19 Charles River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 91 20 Neponset River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 99 21 Weymouth and Weir River Basins and Coastal Drainage Area 103 22 Nashua River Basin 106 23 Car.cord River Basin 115 24 Shawsheen River Basin 122 25 Merrimack River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 124 26 Parker River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 129 27 Ipswich River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 131 28 North Shore Coastal Drainage Area 136 29 South Shore Coastal Drainage Area 142 30 Buzzards Bay Coastal Drainage Area 151 31 Cape Cod Coastal Drainage Area 160 32 Islands Coastal Drainage Area 178 viii LIST OF FIGURES NUMBER TITLE PAGE 1 Drainage Systems X 2 River Basins and Coastal Drainage Areas 2 3 Map Symbols 4 4 Hoosic River Basin 5 5 Kinderhook and Bashbish River Basins 7 6 Housatonic River Basin 10 7 Farmington River Basin 17 8 Westfield River Basin 21 9 Deerfield River Basin 26 10 Connecticut River Basin 2B 11 Millers River Basin 34 12 Chicopee River Basin 40 13 Quinebaug River Basin 49 14 French River Basin 53 15 Blackstone River Basin 57 16 Ten Mile River Basin 67 17 Narragansett Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 70 18 Mount Hope Bay (Shore) Drainage Area 72 19 Taunton River Basin 74 20 Mystic River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 86 21 Charles River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 90 22 Neponset River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 98 23 Weymouth and Weir River Basins and Coastal Drainage Area 102 24 Nashua River Basin l 05 25 Concord River Basin 114 26 Shawsheen River Basin 121 27 Merrimack River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 123 28 Parker River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 128 29 Ipswich River Basin and Coastal Drainage Area 130 30 North Shore Coastal Drainage Area 135 31 South Shore Coastal Drainage Area 141 32 Buzzards Bay Coastal Drainage Area 150 33 Cape Cod Coastal Drainage Area 159 34 Islands Coastal Drainage Area (Martha's Vineyard) 176 35 Islands Coastal Drainage Area (Nantucket) 177 ix I 9 \ VT NH 8 ~ 3 CT RI l< ,l 1 Hudson 4 Thames 7 Boston Harbor 2 Housatonlc 5 Narragansett Bay 8 Merrimack 3 Connecticut 6 Mount Hope Bay 9 Coastal I> :~/:\~ ~~~ ~d\ 0 2~ 0 2~ - - -!CILOMETERS ila•c=i-•==--•MILES DEOE·DWPC·Technicol Services Branch I Figure 1 COMMONWEALTHOF MASSACHUSETTSDRAINAGE SYSTEMS ( I ~ INTRODUCTIONAND OBJECTIVES The Massachusetts Clean Lakes Program is currently undertaking many types of water quality investigations on a large number of waterbodies throughout the Commonwealth, In addition, there is a large body of data already being handled from previously completed water quality investigations, As a concerted effort to both improve and streamline the data access and information management from these investigations this compilation has been revised from a previous compilation report. This current revision of the 1976 compilation report (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1976) should provide an up-to-date desk reference which provides ready access to pertin­ ent preliminary information and data access codes on the various waterbodies of Massachusetts. Future revisions of this document are planned so that both corrections and new data may be incorporated into the report along with additional cross references which will allow even easier access to.information on individual waterbodies. The main objective of this compilation report revision is to correct and expand upon the information found in the previous compilation report (Commonwealth of Massachusetts, 1976). In addition, emphasis has been placed upon both incorporating all available new information and making all the information easier to access by potential users.