Low Flow Inventory

South Coastal Basin

Suspected Causes

Water Withdrawals Several sources have noted that Third Herring Brook in Hanover and Norwell (not to be confused with Third Herring Brook in Pembroke) is severely depleted by nearby public water supply wells for the Town of Hanover. The Water Commissioner for the Town of Norwell reported that a several-hundred-foot stretch of river below the town wells for Hanover and Norwell near Pond Street in Hanover and South Street in Norwell has repeatedly run dry (4). The Zone II Delineation report for the Old Pond Meadows Aquifer in Hanover and Norwell reported streamflow of 0.2 to 0.5 cfs in June and July of 1995. It also reported a loss of 350,000 (0.54 cfs) to 390,000 gpd (0.60 cfs) between points on the river upstream and downstream of the water supply wells. Furthermore, in July 1995, 50,000 gpd (0.08 cfs) were measured flowing past the upstream station and the stream just downstream was completely dry. By mid-August the upstream station was also reduced to a mere trickle of water and the downstream station was still dry (3). The pump test for the proposed Norwell Well #11 near the confluence of Third Herring and Wildcat Brooks indicated that a confining layer of peat below the Wildcat Brook would prevent any significant stream flow impacts, although the water level in Wildcat Brook was lowered slightly at the nearby measuring point (3).

Bypassed Reaches / Diversions The diversion of water from Furnace Pond in Pembroke to Tubbs Meadow Brook in Pembroke as part of the City of Brockton’s water supply management scheme frequently leaves stream flow in Herring Brook (not to be confused with Third Herring Brook in Hanover and Norwell), the pond's natural outlet, depleted. There is often no flow at all from Furnace Pond to Herring Brook (1).

Consequences

Aquatic Flora and Fauna The Jones River in Kingston flows out of Silver Lake , which is used by the City of Brockton for much of its water supply. Due to management of lake levels, flow to the Jones River is frequently non-existent and the headwaters virtually dry up. As a result, there are no permanent aquatic communities remaining in the headwater reaches and large mussel kills, particularly of juveniles, are not uncommon along the shoreline of the lake (2). The lake harbors a diverse mussel assemblage for this area and is one of the few remaining locations of two listed freshwater mussel species, the Eastern Pondmussel (Ligumia nasuta) and the Tidewater Mucket (Leptodea ochracea) (2). During a site visit by Riverways and Jones River Watershed Association staff in February of 2002, water was actually flowing backwards, up the Jones River into Silver Lake because Forge Pond dam just downstream on the Jones River had backed up water, partially from groundwater seeps, which could then flow backward into Silver Lake while the lake level was low. Below the Forge Pond dam, the headwaters of the river were just a trickle of stormwater runoff and an accompanying rusty orange deposit on the streambed (1).

Current Events

The Town Brook dam in Plymouth was removed in September 2002 and is the second of two pilot dam removal projects undertaken by the Riverways Programs' River Restore and its collaborators. In conjunction with a new fishway downstream, this dam removal will allow herring access to migration routes and spawning sites upstream for the first time in at least 300 years (5)!

References & Resources

1) Pine DuBois. Jones River Watershed Association. Personal communication with Margaret Kearns, MA Riverways Program, February 2002.
2) Brian Reid. Email to Margaret Kearns, MA Riverways Programs. February 16, 2002 .
3) Reed, Donald E. August 1995. Zone II Delineation, Old Pond Meadows Aquifer, Towns of Hanover and Norwell.
4) Steve Ivas. Water Commissioner, Town of Norwell. Personal communication with Russ Cohen, MA Riverways Program, 2002.
5) Massachusetts Riverways Program River Restore webpage.
6) USGS real-time stream gage data for the Jones River at Kingston.