Agawam River

The Agawam River is a stream (10+ miles long) in southeastern Massachusetts that is part of the Wareham River estuary. It was also formerly the name of the lower section of the Westfield River in western Massachusetts.

The river originates at Halfway Pond east of the Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth, flows southwest through Glen Charlie Pond and East Wareham, and drains into the Wareham River near the center of Wareham. As the estuary's major contributor of nutrients and fresh water, the Agawam was one of the most important herring rivers in Massachusetts. Its herring runs have been operated by European settlers since 1632 and were officially established as a managed run in 1832.

Even today it remains one of the few managed herring runs in Massachusetts, although few fish reach the river's spawning and nursery habitat. It includes convert|570|acre|km2 of water bodies that could serve as habitat to alewife, blueback herring, and American shad. Approximately 36% of this habitat is in Halfway Pond. Fishway retrofit projects aim to restore river herring population to historic levels, perhaps as many as 100,000+ fish annually.

The Agawam River receives discharges from the Wareham Sewage Treatment plant, which discharges 0.76 million gallons per day of nitrogen-rich sewage effluent.

References

* [http://www.buzzardsbay.org/agawamr.htm Buzzards Bay National Estuary Program]
* [http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/restorat.nsf/487680a0abd5e44b85256584006989dd/98c25c9fef64c26585256caa0082ab8f!OpenDocument Environmental Protection Agency - herring]
* [http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/restorat.nsf/487680a0abd5e44b85256584006989dd/3c906b3121aa9d9b85256cad0077f64b!OpenDocument Environmental Protection Agency - restoration]
* [http://www.bartleby.com/69/74/A01174.html Columbia Gazetteer of North America]