Research about Taunton River, Ten Mile River

USGS1968

Availability of ground water in the northern part, Tenmile and Taunton River basins, southeastern Massachusetts

The northern part of the Tenmile and Taunton River basins occupies an area of about 195 square miles. It includes some of the rapidly growing suburbs of Boston, Attleboro, and Brockton and lies along major highways connecting Boston with Fall River and Providence, Rhode Island. (See location map.) The purpose of this report is to delineate the extent of and to estimate the annual sustained yield and pumpage of the principal aquifers that are suitable for exploration for high-yielding wells to meet the needs of municipal water systems and industry. Lesser aquifers providing water for industrial, commercial, domestic, and some municipal supplies are also outlined. This report is based on geologic mapping, records of about 2,200 wells and test borings, seismic records, and discussion of water problems with municipal and corporate officials, drillers, and consulting engineers. Selected test borings and wells, including most municipal and industrial wells, are located on the map. They indicate areas from which water is pumped, saturated thickness and texture of materials, yield of wells, and areas in which exploratory work has already been done. Additional subsurface data are listed in a separate report (Williams and Willey, 1967).

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USGS1967

Northern part, Ten Mile and Taunton River basins

The northern part of the Ten Mile and Taunton River basins is an area of about 195 square miles within Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties in southeastern Massachusetts. The northern boundary of the area (plate 1) is the drainage divide separating these basins from that of the Charles, Neponset, and Weymouth River basins. The western boundary is, for the most part, the divide separating the basins from the Blackstone River basin. The eastern boundary is at the edge of the Brockton-Pembroke area (Petersen, 1962; Petersen and Shaw, 1961). The southern boundary in Seekonk is the northern limit of the East Providence quadrangle, for which a ground-water map was prepared by Allen and Gorman (1959); eastward, the southern boundaries of the city of Attleboro and the towns of Norton, Easton, and West Bridgewater form the southern boundary of the area. This report is one of two prepared by the Geological Survey for the Water Resources Commission. The principal purpose of this report is to make available the basic data on which the other, a map showing availability of ground water, is based. This basic-data report also can be used by engineers, planners, and others interested in or responsible for water-resources planning to determine the materials to be encountered (tables 3 and 4) and the yields which may be obtained from wells and test holes (tables 1 and 2) in the stratified sand and gravel that are the principal source of ground water and in bedrock. Partial and complete chemical analyses (tables 7 and 8) of these test holes and of some privately-owned wells provide information on the general quality of the water for domestic and other uses. A tabulation of existing municipal supplies, their capacity, production (table 5), and chemical quality of the water (table 6) may be used for regional planning purposes. Water-level measurements (figure 1) can be used to determine the annual fluctuations of the water table in certain types of materials. Seismic work (table 9) in the Canoe River valley, Norton, and test drilling with a power augur (tables 2 and 4) were done for the Geological Survey as part of the investigation.

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