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The Neponset River, as it curves away from Plimpton St. in Walpole.	Neponset River Watershed

The waterways and lands of the Neponset River Watershed offer a vast array of benefits to residents and visitors alike -- from drinking water to parkland, fishing and paddling opportunities, to diverse plants and animals, to a rich history of Native American and Colonial occupation and early industry. Interestingly, the Neponset River Watershed provides these benefits amidst difficulties of its own. The Watershed suffers from contaminants in both river-bottom sediments and the fish that come into contact with them, very low water levels during the summer, obsolescent dams that obstruct fish migrations, high levels of salt from winter roads, filled wetlands, exotic, invasive species, and garbage in our waterways. Before diving into these issues (for more information, click on the buttons at the top left of this screen), let's examine what it means to be a watershed. What is a Watershed? A watershed is the area of land that drains into a body of water, like a river, pond, harbor or lake. A watershed is sometimes referred to as a "river basin," a "river valley," or a "drainage basin." A watershed might contain a variety of landscapes, ecosystems, and man-made structures. For instance, a watershed could include forests, parking lots, mountains, wetlands, hills, streams, apartment complexes, ponds, mansions, malls, cities, lakes, businesses, towns, landfills, state parks, swimming-holes, you-name-it. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes -- they may contain multiple towns, just a few houses or none at all! Watersheds are "communities connected by water." Everybody in each town is affected by water use and water quality throughout the watershed. By working together and recognizing the mutual interests of protecting water for drinking, recreation, fisheries and wildlife, watershed communities can protect this critical resource for future generations. Where is the Neponset River Watershed? The Neponset River Watershed includes roughly 130 square miles of land located southwest of Boston. All of this land drains into the Neponset River, and ultimately in to Boston Harbor. The Neponset River Watershed includes parts of 14 cities and towns: Boston, Canton, Dedham, Dover, Foxborough, Medfield, Milton, Norwood, Randolph, Quincy, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole and Westwood Roughly 300,000 people live in the watershed. The Neponset River itself runs for 30 miles through the middle of the watershed. The River starts in Foxboro, near the Foxboro Stadium, and ends in Dorchester/Quincy, near the Boston Gas tank by I-93. Because the Neponset River ultimately enters Boston Harbor, the Neponset River Watershed is itself a part of the larger Boston Harbor Watershed, along with the Mystic River Watershed to the north of Boston, the Charles River Watershed to the west of Boston and the Weymouth-Weir River Watersheds, which, like the Neponset River Watershed, originate south of Boston. Click on the map below to enlarge the image, or download the pdf.