Strengthening the Resilience of

the Taunton River Watershed

Prioritizing Local Action

6/12/14

No Really, We’re Here to Help

Healthy and Resilient Taunton Watershed

Project

EPA’s Healthy Watershed Program

Region 1 Pilot – Taunton watershed project in partnership with TNC

Contractor assistance from Cadmus Group and RTI

Worked with Stakeholder group to get feedback

Report finalized in June 2014

Stakeholder group has formed into Resilient Taunton Watershed

Network

Currently developing plans for municipal outreach and on the ground

projects, top ten list

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4

Now the

Resilient Taunton

Watershed

Network

And membership

is growing

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Final

Report by

RTI

June 2014

• Focus is on ecosystem services, ecological resilience

• The report included a database and GIS maps

What are Ecosystem Services?

Protect humans and ecosystems from disturbance and allow for easier

recovery

Support humans and ecosystems

Examples of how natural systems support humans:

Floodplains provide protection from extreme flooding

Wetlands store water, filter pollutants and recharge groundwater

for drinking water

Streamside vegetation filters pollutants and reduces erosion

Trees improve air quality and reduce urban heat effects

Healthy fish populations support recreational fishing

Protection and Restoration of Natural Infrastructure

Nemasket River

Why the Taunton?

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• Coastal plain of southeastern MA, second largest watershed in MA, 42 towns

• Longest undammed tidal river in New England, designated Wild and Scenic River

• Recognized for its rich ecological, recreational, and cultural resources

• Most productive herring river run in the state – Nemasket river which flows from

Assawampset Pond for 11 miles to confluence with Taunton

• Key ecological resources

• Largest freshwater wetland in the state – 17,000 acre Hockomock Swamp

supporting at least 13 rare and endangered species

• Largest natural pond system – Assawompset Pond Complex with includes Long

Pond and four other interconnected ponds – DW supply for more than 180,000

residents in 13 communities

• 560 square miles, flat landscape with only 20 foot drop in elevation along the main stem

• Land cover 46% natural lands, 27% developed land, 22% water/wetland, and 5% agriculture

• Taunton is largest freshwater contributor to Narragansett Bay

• Tauton starts at the confluence of the Matfield and Town rivers in Bridgewater and

flows 40 miles to Mt. Hope bay, downstream 18 miles are tidal

Example

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Final

Report by

RTI

June 2014

• Focus is on ecosystem services, ecological resilience

• The report included a database and GIS maps

Report, and data base linked to GIS files

6 Focus Areas

Riparian freshwater wetlands

Upland freshwater wetlands

Saltwater wetlands

Riparian forests

Upland forests

Streams

Ranked for Ecosystem Services

Protection from extreme flooding

Water quantity protection

Water quality protection

Habitat protection

Air quality protection

Open space protection

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Decision support

data base tool

GIS Mapping

Change the weighting scheme to what is important to your circumstances

Focus on a particular ecosystem service

Change the threshold values to reflect different scenarios

Focus in one location

Customize the

data to build

specific scenarios

Closing Thoughts

We learned a lot doing the pilot

There is a tremendous amount of data out there for decision

making, but you need to know what parts are important

The questions you ask are critical

There are many benefits to protecting ecosystem services

The whole watershed is a system and your town is a part of it

The tool can potentially help with prioritizing protection efforts

or making decisions to strengthen resiliency

You are not alone