A whole new way to study river

A whole new way to study river’s health

July 27, 2006

Boston Globe correspondent

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The Taunton River watershed -- a region of 32 communities, 700,000 people, 114 species of birds, and “173 canoe -friendly miles" -- will be the subject of a first-of-its-kind study designed to preserve natural resources, sustain river flow, and protect the drinking-water supply in Southeastern Massachusetts.

The comprehensive study will be funded in part by a $250,000 grant in the recently approved state budget. The total cost is expected to be more than $1 million.

“There are many reasons to keep the river alive and healthy," said state Senator Marc Pacheco, a Taunton Democrat and one of the effort's main legislative supporters. The watershed has “eco tourism" attractions as well as practical value, he said.

While individual communities generally have political authority over development decisions within their boundaries, a decision about drinking water, wastewater, a new shopping center, or a housing project in one town can affect the quality of life throughout the region, say supporters of a regional planning approach, Pacheco among them.

But those interconnections are “not always so evident," Pacheco said. “Now there will be a documented study."

Past studies have been done in parts of the watershed as part of specific project proposals, but never of the entire region, he said. Twenty-two of the communities in the Taunton River watershed are south of Boston.

According to advocates, the watershed study will help local communities, state agencies, regional planners, water supply planners, and environmentalists determine how to manage additional wastewater and storm water while keeping rivers and streams healthy and water supplies strong. The study also will produce a report with data, work plans, and other input to further a long-term, detailed management plan “at watershed scale."

“It's a natural resource that doesn't recognize political boundaries," said Linda Orel of the Nature Conservancy, an environmental advocacy organization that helped prepare a conservation plan for the watershed.

Ecologically, the Taunton River is the longest undammed coastal river in New England. Tidal waters entering the river from Mount Hope Bay help maintain rare brackish and freshwater tidal marshes in a watershed that also includes the largely unspoiled Hockomock Swamp, the largest freshwater wetland complex in southern New England.

The Taunton River, its six tributaries, and the surrounding watershed host rare birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates, and wetland plants, some on critical species lists, some (like river otters and freshwater mussels) especially vulnerable to environmental change, and others as robust as the river herring -- the largest spawning herring population in southern New England.

“This is an enormous project," said Alison Bowden, the aquatic ecologist for the Nature Conservancy. “We want to make sure that the supply of drinking water can be sustained as well as the supply of water for aquatic and other species. We're trying to prevent problems before they happen."

A steering committee, which will include Nature Conservancy representation, will decide who does the study. Consultants and state agencies are likely to be involved.

Commercial and residential development and wastewater treatment are potential problems, according to the conservancy officials. Both new development and wastewater pose threats to the Taunton River and a very high threat to Mount Hope Bay. Water withdrawal (for public drinking-water supplies) is rated a medium-level threat to the Taunton River, but a high threat to some of its tributaries.

There are six wastewater treatment plants in the watershed, Bowden said. When wastewater concerns in Abington and Whitman precipitated a demand for a local study several years ago, environmentalists and regional legislators contended that a study restricted to those towns would have limited value and advocated a study of the whole system to provide baseline data that planners in all communities can use to make decisions.

In addition to keeping wastewater out of river flow in the face of new development, the study will identify other priorities, Bowden said, pinpointing areas where water withdrawals should not be permitted and others that can sustain more withdrawals.

State funds, including a previous $250,000 grant to get the project off the ground, will be used to leverage private and other government grants.

The U.S. Geological Survey is expected to take part, providing technical expertise to map the region's hydrology, but its participation has not been formalized.

The Nature Conservancy worked with regional planning organizations, state agencies, and Bridgewater State College water quality experts on preparing a scope of work and budget for the Taunton River Comprehensive Water Management Plan.

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