Date
12-5-2005
Document Type
Presentation
School
Braintree High School, Braintree, Massachusetts
Teacher
Susan Smith
Description
The Fore River Watershed initiates in the Blue Hills of Milton, Massachusetts. The Farm River, which flows through Braintree, Massachusetts, is one of the tributaries. It is a first order river that contributes to Great Pond, the major water supply for Braintree, Randolph and Avon. As the Farm River proceeds beyond Great Pond, it passes within thirty feet of an industrial park and shopping mall for approximately 1km. It also passes under a heavily traveled road, Granite Street. The amount of imperviousness in the area is considerable
The purpose of this study was to determine if a river flows through an industrial area, its macroinvertebrate population will be deleteriously affected due to reduced water quality. It was too difficult to access the river before the industry, so an alternative site was selected which was as upstream as possible, bordered on one side by wetlands and open space, but still next to industry. The second site was just beyond the roadway where the Farm River passes underneath the road. The two sites were similar in canopy, width and depth. The substrate was primarily sand and rocks at the downstream industry site, and the substrate was rocks with silt and a large amount of vegetation underwater at the upstream wetlands site. The macroinvertebrate populations were close in MGBI: 5.2, Industry and 5.5, Wetlands, although there were twice as many intolerant species found at the Wetland site. Further study is needed, particularly temperature and chemical as well as a family biotic index.
Recommended Citation
Braintree High School, Braintree, Massachusetts (2005). A Comparison of Divergent Sites on the Farm River: Wetlands vs. Industry. In Watershed Access Lab Projects. Project 39.
Available at: https://vc.bridgew.edu/wal_projects/39
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