Publication Date
4-8-2008
Abstract
The statewide water budgets project is designed to assess the human impact on streamflow in communities in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The assessments are intended to provide a framework for long-term water resources planning and protection of essential aquatic ecosystems. The water budgets analyses will be performed on approximately 2,200 small subbasins in Massachusetts that average about 5 square miles in area. Water use impacts cover the public, private and commercial sectors and include water withdrawals, wastewater discharges, septic tank return flows, import/export of water via pipe networks, evaporative losses from irrigation, and lost recharge from impervious surfaces. The approach focuses on the impacts to baseflow and presents the results for both the wet and dry periods of the year. The approach identifies basins that are hydrologically out of balance and provides an estimate of the impact relative to natural streamflow. Reports on the subbasin water budgets are summarized by community (for local use) and major watershed (for state use). Results from completed studies of major watersheds will be presented.