1. Restoring eelgrass to the Neponset River Estuary
Watershed Characteristics
October 15, 2012

2. Outline Watershed & sub-watershed area Land use/Land Cover
Surficial Geology/Bedrock Lithology
Wastewater Infrastructure
Aquatic Habitat
Probably wont keep this slide but just use it as a reference to figure out what to include and what not to include in the presentation.

3. Watershed Definition The area of land that drains into a body of water
“Communities connected by water”
The area of land that drains into a body of water, like a pond, river, harbor, or lake. In essence, it’s basic function is to capture, store, and drain into whatever that body of water may be.
A watershed can be described as a “community connected by water” because it can include a variety of landscapes, such as forests, residential areas, and so on, but everyone within the watershed is affected by water use and water quality.

4. As we all know, we are interested in the Neponset River Watershed, which covers the western portion of the Boston Harbor Watershed as seen here.

5. The watershed: Boston Norwood Canton Randolph Dedham Quincy Dover
Sharon
Foxborough
Stoughton
Medfield
Walpole
Milton
Westwood
So if we zoom in a little bit and take a look at a map I’m sure we’re all very familiar with, we can see the delineation of the Neponset River Watershed.
130 sq. miles

6. Land Use
According to land information downloaded from MassGIS, Huang & Chen 2009 determined the 5 major types of land usage in the Neponest River Watershed.
They are 38% residential area (as seen in yellow)
34% forested area, as seen in dark green) – together which make up the vast majority of land cover in the watershed
The others are 5% Industry in Red
4% wetlands in lime green
3% golf course
Huang & Chen 2009

7. Impervious Surfaces
Schueler 1992

8. Impervious Surfaces Yellow – 30-40% Dark orange – 50-60%
Deep, dark red - >50%

9. Surficial Geology
OLIVER: MassGIS

10. Bedrock Lithology
OLIVER: MassGIS

11. Wastewater infrastructure
NepRWA 2004

12. Aquatic Habitat

13. Aquatic Habitat

14. Open Space

15. Recommendations
Continued monitoring of land use changes over time to understand and predict ecological consequences incurred by sensitive habitats
Investigate the relationship between bedrock lithology, surficial geology, and groundwater features
Survey wastewater infrastructure of municipals in the watershed and assess the overall status of these systems
Investigate dry deposition processes affecting the Neponset River Watershed

16. References
Huang W, Chen RF (2009) Sources and transformations of chromophoric dissolved organic
matter in the Neponset River Watershed. Journal of Geophysical Research 114:G00F05
Neponset River Watershed Association (2004) Neponset River Watershed 2004 Assessment
Report. University of Massachusetts, Urban Harbors Institute.
Schueler TR (1992) Mitigating the adverse impacts of urbanization on streams: A comprehensive
strategy for local government. Watershed Restoration Sourcebook, Publication 92701:21-31