This is a detailed report prepared for the MassDEP that discusses the management of the water resources of Quaboag and Quacumquasit Lakes.
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Introduction:
The purpose of a Massachusetts Watershed-Based Plan (WBP) is to organize information about Massachusetts' watersheds and present the information in a format that will enhance the development and implementation of projects that will restore water quality and beneficial uses in the Commonwealth. The Massachusetts WBP follows the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA's) recommended format for “nine-element” watershed plans. This WBP was developed by Geosyntec Consultants Geosyntec) under the direction of the Town of Sturbridge, with funding, input, and collaboration from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP).
This WBP was prepared for the Quaboag (North) Pond/Quacumquasit (South) Pond1 watershed, which is within the towns of Sturbridge, Brookfield, East Brookfield, Spencer, Charlton, North Brookfield, New Braintree, Leicester, Oakham, Rutland, and Paxton, Massachusetts. Quacumquasit Pond discharges underneath a bridge on Lake Road to an approximately 1,500-foot channel (referred to as the “interbasin connector”) to Quaboag Pond.
Quacumquasit Pond also receives backflows from Quaboag Pond via this channel; a flow control structure was constructed in 1991 (Baystate Environmental Consultants, 1989; Lycott, 1994) to reduce the potential for backflows to occur, but backflows to Quacumquasit Pond from Quaboag Pond do still occur (MassDEP, 2006).
Quaboag Pond has an area of about 544 acres with an average depth of less than 7 feet, while Quacumquasit Pond has an area of about 223 acres with an average depth of over 32 feet (Lycott Environmental Research, Inc., 1994). Although Quaboag Pond is larger in area, it has about half the volume of Quacumquasit Pond and a much shorter retention time; Quaboag Pond has an estimated retention time of 12 days and Quacumquasit Pond has an estimated retention time of 1.5 years (MassDEP, 2006). Quaboag Pond discharges into the Quaboag River, which is within the Chicopee River basin. The total area of the Quaboag Pond/Quacumquasit Pond watershed is approximately 48,671 acres2 (76 square miles). Major streams in the watershed include Fivemile River, East Brookfield River, Sevenmile River3, Turkey Hill Brook, Cranberry Meadow River, and Great Brook. Other major lakes/ponds in the watershed include Lashaway Lake, Brooks Pond, Dean Pond, Browning Pond, Turkey Hill Pond, Eames Pond, Thompsons Pond, Sugden Reservoir, Lake Whittemore, and Cranberry Meadow Pond .