Low Flow Inventory

Parker River Basin

Bachelder Brook; Bull Brook; Dow Brook; Egypt River; Mill River; Parker River

Basin Snapshot

Drainage Area: 82 square miles

Main River Miles: Parker River, approximately 23 miles long

Towns in Basin: Boxford, Georgetown, Groveland, Ipswich, Newbury, Newburyport, North Andover, Rowley, and West Newbury

Headwaters/Mouth: Two unnamed streams in West Boxford/Plum Island Sound; last 9 miles tidal (approximately 14.3 square miles of estuarine waters)

# of Known Dams/Fish ladders: 6, between Pentcket Pond and Central Street, Newbury. All six dams currently have provisions for fish passage.

# of Water Management Act permits: ??

*all data excerpted from Mass DEP's Water Quality Assessment Report, August, 2001

Observations

The Parker River USGS stream gage at Byfield has recorded a declining trend in streamflow in the river within the last decade and is considered a “high stress” river based on its low discharge per square mile of watershed (cfsm) compared to other rivers in the state (2). Other streams that are reported to have low flow problems within the basin include the Egypt River downstream of Bull Brook (In 1999, the Ipswich Water Department withdrew 0.26 mgd over their registered volume from the Parker River subwatershed. They have since applied for an increase to their registered volume of 0.64 mgd.) and Dow Brook Reservoirs and Bachelder Brook in Rowley (1). In addition, the reach of the Parker River between the Georgetown wells and Rock Pond was observed to have little or no flow in 1999 (3).

Consequences

Aquatic Flora and Fauna The Mill River (above) in Boxford and Rowley was observed by DEP staff with only 50% of its channel inundated in summer of 1999. The other 50% of the channel was unavailable as habitat for fish and other aquatic organisms. The Water Quality Assessment Report also noted inadequate fish passage in the Mill River (3).

Current Events

The Massachusetts Watershed Initiative has funded a study that began in 2002 to investigate possible causes of declining streamflow in the Parker River. Some possibilities that will be explored are water withdrawals from the Georgetown wellfield, the Town of Byfield's bedrock and overburden wells, beaver activity, new water users, and renovations to the Pentucket dam.

References & Resources

1. Rich Tomczyk, Ipswich/Parker Watershed Initiative Team Leader. Personal communication, February 2002.
2. Stressed Basins in Massachusetts . Final Draft, OWR version 3.12. 12/01.
3. Weinstein, Mollie J. and Susan G. Connors. August 2001. Parker River Watershed Water Quality Assessment Report, Report Number 91-AC-1, DWM Control Number 54.0. MA DEP, Bureau of Resource Protection, Division of Watershed Management.
4. USGS Parker River stream discharge gage at Byfield