Sudbury Reservoir

Metropolitan Water District system, 1910

Location in Massachusetts

Location| Middlesex County and Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States
Coordinates| 42°19′21″N 71°30′45″W﻿ / ﻿42.32250°N 71.51250°W﻿ / 42.32250; -71.51250[1]
Area| 4,943 acres (20.00 km2)[2]
Elevation| 249 ft (76 m)[1]
Established| 1894–1898
Governing body| Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
Website| Sudbury Reservoir

The Sudbury Reservoir (2.02 square miles) is an emergency backup Boston metropolitan water reservoir in Massachusetts, located predominantly in Southborough and Marlborough, with small sections in Westborough and Framingham.[3] It was created when the Sudbury Dam was constructed to impound the Stony Brook branch of the Sudbury River; no part of the reservoir lies in the town of Sudbury. Nearly 5,000 acres (2,000 ha) in the Sudbury Reservoir watershed are administered by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation as a limited-access public recreation area.[2]

## History

[edit]

A section of the reservoir as seen from Middle Road in Southborough

The reservoir was first begun in 1878, as part of a system of reservoirs fed from the Sudbury River to supplement the Lake Cochituate system in Natick. Today's reservoir was created by excavation from 1894 to 1898, with construction undertaken in sections. It was begun by the City of Boston but completed by the newly formed Metropolitan Water Board (predecessor to the modern Massachusetts Water Resources Authority). All told, construction required moving about 4.5 million cubic yards (3.4 million cubic metres) of soil and boulders. Water began to fill the reservoir on February 8, 1897, with construction of the reservoir's new Sudbury Dam on the Stony Brook Branch of the Sudbury River completed later that year.[4]

When completed, the reservoir's surface area was 2.02 square miles (5.2 km2), its average depth was 17 feet (5.2 m) and maximum depth was 65 feet (20 m), and its capacity was 7.253 billion US gallons (27.46 billion litres).[5] The reservoir was fed from the Wachusett Reservoir on the west by the Wachusett Aqueduct (1898), and by local streams. To improve the water quality of the local streams, filter beds were constructed adjacent to the reservoir. The reservoir's water was delivered to the Weston Reservoir to the east by the Weston Aqueduct (1901), or via a channel to the Framingham reservoirs and the Sudbury Aqueduct to the Chestnut Hill Reservoir.

In 1947, the obsolete Whitehall, Hopkinton, Ashland and Cochituate reservoirs became state parks; and in 1976, the entire Sudbury System was officially reclassified as an emergency water supply. Today only the Sudbury Reservoir and the Foss Reservoir (Framingham Reservoir No. 3) remain as reserve drinking water supplies with the Weston and Sudbury aqueducts serving as reserve transmission.[2] In an emergency the Sudbury and Foss reservoirs can be placed into service either as a primary source, as an alternate pass-through for Quabbin/Wachusett reservoir water in the event of a transmission problem blocking the normal transmission pathways, or as a supplemental source in a major drought. In all cases, the water would be untreated and would likely require boiling for consumption.

## Permitted activities

[edit]

The area's limited public access allows for picnicking, hiking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, and shoreline fishing with restrictions.[2]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b "Sudbury Reservoir". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. ^ a b c d "Sudbury Reservoir". MassParks. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. Retrieved February 9, 2014.
3. ^ "Wachusett and Sudbury Reservoirs Fishing Regulations". Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Water Supply Protection. Retrieved November 26, 2019 - via mass.gov.
4. ^ Third Annual Report. Boston: Metropolitan Water Board. 1898. pp. 66–72. Retrieved February 25, 2017.
5. ^ American Association for the Advancement of Science (1898). A Handbook of the Principal Scientific Institutions of Boston and Vicinity. Boston: Rockwell and Churchill Press. p. 85. Retrieved February 25, 2017.

## Additional sources

[edit]

* Science and Industry, Volume 6, The Colliery Engineer Company, Scranton, Penn: International Textbook Company, February–December 1901.

## External links

[edit]

* Sudbury Reservoir Department of Conservation and Recreation
* MassWildlife Map and information

* v
* t
* e

Protected areas of Massachusetts

Federal

| National Historical Parks|

* Adams
* Blackstone River Valley
* Boston
* Lowell
* Minute Man
* New Bedford Whaling

|

National Historic Sites|

* Boston African American
* Frederick Law Olmsted
* John Fitzgerald Kennedy
* Longfellow House–Washington's Headquarters
* Salem Maritime
* Saugus Iron Works
* Springfield Armory

Other National Park Service units|

* Appalachian National Scenic Trail
* Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area
* Cape Cod National Seashore

National Wildlife Refuges|

* Assabet River
* Great Meadows
* Mashpee
* Massasoit
* Monomoy
* Nantucket
* Nomans Land
* Oxbow
* Parker River
* Silvio O. Conte
* Thacher Island

Wild and Scenic Rivers|

* Assabet
* Concord
* Sudbury
* Taunton
* Westfield

Other protected areas|

* Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary
* Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve
* West Hill Dam (USACE)

State parks

| Parks|

* Alewife Brook
* Ames Nowell
* Ashland
* Bash Bish Falls
* Blackstone River and Canal Heritage
* Borderland
* Boston Harbor Islands
* Bradley Palmer
* C. M. Gardner
* Callahan
* Castle Island State Park
* Chicopee Memorial
* City Square
* Clarksburg
* Cochituate
* Connecticut River Greenway
* Demarest Lloyd
* Dighton Rock
* Dunn
* Ellisville Harbor
* Fall River Heritage
* Gardner Heritage
* Governor Thomas Dudley
* Great Brook Farm
* Greycourt
* Halibut Point
* Hampton Ponds
* Holyoke Heritage
* Hopkinton
* Lake Lorraine
* Lake Wyola
* Lawrence Heritage
* Lowell Heritage
* Lynn Heritage
* Massasoit
* Maudslay
* Moore
* Mount Holyoke Range
* Natural Bridge
* Nickerson
* Pearl Hill
* Pilgrim
* Quinsigamond
* Robinson
* Roxbury Heritage
* Rutland
* Skinner
* South Cape Beach
* Wahconah Falls
* Webb Memorial
* Wells
* Western Gateway Heritage
* Whitehall
* Wompatuck

|

Reservations|

* Beaver Brook
* Belle Isle Marsh
* Blue Hills
* Breakheart
* Charles River
* Chestnut Hill
* Cutler
* Dorchester Shores
* Elm Bank
* Fort Phoenix
* Hammond Pond
* Hemlock Gorge
* Horseneck Beach
* Jug End
* Lynn Shore
* Middlesex Fells
* Mount Everett
* Mount Greylock
* Mount Sugarloaf
* Mount Tom
* Myles Standish
* Mystic River
* Nahant Beach
* Nantasket Beach
* Nasketucket Bay
* Neponset River
* Pope John Paul II
* Purgatory Chasm
* Quincy Quarries
* Quincy Shore
* Revere Beach
* Rumney Marsh
* Salisbury Beach
* Sandy Point
* Scusset Beach
* Stony Brook
* Upper Charles River
* Wachusett Mountain
* Walden Pond
* West Island
* Weymouth
* Wilson Mountain

Other|

* Appalachian Trail
* Ashuwillticook Rail Trail
* Cape Cod Rail Trail
* Fort Revere
* Lake Dennison Recreation Area
* Lower Neponset River Trail
* Mass Central Rail Trail - Wayside
* Nashua River Rail Trail
* Norwottuck Branch Rail Trail
* Quabbin Reservoir
* Southwest Corridor Park
* Squantum Point Park
* Streeter Point Recreation Area
* Sudbury Reservoir
* Wachusett Reservoir
* Ware River Watershed Area

State forests

* Barnstable
* Beartown
* Berkley
* Billerica
* Brimfield
* Chester-Blandford
* DAR
* Douglas
* Erving
* F. Gilbert Hills
* Federated Women's Club
* Franklin
* Freetown-Fall River
* Georgetown-Rowley
* Gilbert A. Bliss
* Granville
* Harold Parker
* Kenneth Dubuque Memorial
* Leominster
* Lowell-Dracut-Tyngsboro
* Manuel F. Correllus
* Mohawk Trail
* Monroe
* Mount Grace
* Mount Washington
* Myles Standish
* October Mountain
* Otter River
* Pittsfield
* Sandisfield
* Savoy Mountain
* Shawme-Crowell
* South River
* Spencer
* Tolland
* Upton
* Warren H. Manning
* Wendell
* Willard Brook
* Willowdale
* Windsor

Wildlife management areas

| Wildlife
management areas|

* Agawam Lake
* Agawam Mill Pond
* Ashby
* Ashfield Hawley
* Attitash
* Ayer Game Farm
* Baddacook Pond
* Bakers Pond
* Bay Circuit Trail
* Bearse Pond
* Becket
* Bennett
* Birch Hill
* Black Brook
* Blackstone / West River
* Bolton Flats
* Boxboro Station
* Brayton Point Salt Marsh
* Breakneck Brook
* Brewer Brook
* Bullock Ledge
* Burrage Pond
* Canoe River
* Catamount
* Chalet
* Chase Garden Creek Salt Marsh
* Childs River
* Chockalog Swamp
* Church Homestead
* Clapps Pond
* Clinton Bluff
* Concord River
* Connecticut River
* Cook Pond
* Copicut
* Coy Hill
* Crane Pond
* Cummington
* Cusky Pond
* Dartmoor Farm
* Darwin Scott Memorial
* Day Mountain
* Deerfield River
* Dogfish Bar Beach Coastal
* Dolomite Ledges
* Dunstable Brook
* E. Kent Swift
* Eagle Island
* East Mountain
* Eastham Salt Marsh
* Elbow Meadow
* English Salt Marsh
* Eugene D. Moran
* Facing Rock
* Fairfield Brook
* Farmington River
* Fish Brook
* Fisherville Pond
* Fisk Forestdale Lot
* Fisk Meadows
* Five Mile River
* Flagg Swamp
* Flint Pond
* Four Chimneys
* Fox Den
* Fox Island Salt Marsh
* Frances A. Crane
* George L. Darey Housatonic Valley
* Glen Echo Lake
* Gosnold
* Grassy Pond (Dennis)
* Grassy Pond (Plymouth)
* Green River Access (Franklin County)
* Green River (Berkshire County)
* Greenfield River
* Halfway Pond
* Hamilton
* Hancock
* Harlow / Cooks Pond
* Haskell Swamp
* Hauk Swamp
* Hawksnest State Park
* Hawley
* Head Of The Plains
* Herman Covey
* High Ridge
* Hinsdale Flats
* Hiram H. Fox
* Hockomock Swamp
* Hog Pond Lot
* Honey Pot
* Hoosatonic River
* Hoosic River
* Hop Brook
* Housatonic River
* Hubbard Brook
* Hunting Hills
* Hyannis Ponds
* Ipswich River
* John J. Kelly
* Joint Base Cape Cod
* Jug End
* Jug End Fen
* Kampoosa Fen
* Katama Plains
* Knops Pond
* Konkapot River
* Lackey Pond
* Lake Lorraine
* Lake Rohunta
* Lake Snipatuit
* Lake Warner
* Lanesboro
* Lawrence Brook
* Lawrence Pond Lot
* Leadmine
* Leyden
* Lilly Pond
* Little Alum Pond
* Long Sought For Pond
* Maple Hill
* Maple Springs
* Martha Deering
* Martin H. Burns
* Mascuppic Lake
* Mashpee Pine Barrens
* Mashpee Pond Lot
* Mashpee River
* Mckinstry Brook
* Meetinghouse Swamp
* Merrill Pond
* Miacomet Heath
* Mill Brook Bogs
* Mill River
* Millers River
* Mine Brook
* Montague
* Montague Plains
* Moose Brook Access
* Moose Brook
* Moose Hill
* Mossy Pond
* Mount Watatic Reservation
* Mt. Esther
* Mt. Toby Highlands
* Mt. Toby
* Mt. Tom
* Muddy Brook
* Muddy Pond
* Mulpus Brook
* Nashua River
* Natty Brook
* Nemasket River
* Nissitissit River
* Noquochoke
* Nordeen Marsh
* North Brookfield
* North Shore Salt Marsh
* Northboro
* Oakham
* Olivers Pond
* Orange
* Otis
* Packard Pond
* Palmer
* Pantry Brook
* Pauchaug Brook
* Peru
* Peterson Swamp
* Phillipston
* Podunk Marsh
* Poland Brook
* Popple Camp
* Popponesset Spit
* Poutwater Pond
* Powell Brook
* Prince River
* Provincetown Route 6 Corridor
* Purchade Brook
* Quaboag
* Quacumquasit
* Quag Pond Bog
* Quashnet River
* Quashnet Woods State Reservation
* Quinapoxet River
* Quinsigamond Marsh
* Quisset
* Raccoon Hill
* Rainbow Beach
* Red Brook
* Richardson
* Robbins Pond
* Rochester
* Rocky Gutter
* Rowe
* Salisbury Salt Marsh
* Salisbury Salt Marsh WMA
* Sandwich Game Farm
* Sandy Pond
* Satan's Kingdom
* Savage Hill
* Savoy
* Sawmill River
* Scorton Creek Coastal
* SE Mass Bioreserve
* Sevenmile River
* Shattuck Brook
* Sheperds Island
* Shubael Pond
* Sibley Brook
* Sly Pond
* South Barrier Beach
* South Meadow Pond
* South Shore Salt Marsh
* South Triangle Pond
* Southampton
* Southwick
* Spectacle Pond
* Springhill Lot
* Sputtermill Pond
* Squannacook River
* Stafford Hill
* Sudbury River
* Sunderland Islands
* Taconic Mountain
* Taunton River Access
* Taunton River
* Tekoa Mountain
* Thad Ellis
* Thayer Pond
* Three Mile Pond
* Townsend
* Townsend Hill
* Trapfall Brook
* Triangle Pond
* Tully Brook
* Tully Mountain
* Tully River
* Wakeby Pond
* Wales
* Walnut Hill
* Ware River
* Warwick
* Wendell
* West Meadows
* Westboro
* Westfield River
* Westfield
* Weymouth Back River
* Whately Great Swamp
* Whately Ponds
* Whately
* Wilbraham Game Farm
* William Forward
* Williams River
* Williamsburg
* Winimusset
* Wolf Swamp

|

Wildlife
sanctuaries|

* Billingsgate Island
* Carr Island
* E. Howe Forbush
* Egg Rock
* Grace A. Robson
* J.C. Phillips
* Knight
* Penikese Island
* Ram Island (Mattapoisett)
* Ram Island (Salisbury)
* Susan B. Minns
* Tarpaulin Cove
* Watatic Mountain

The Nature Conservancy

* Black Pond Bog
* Boat Meadow
* Francis Newhall Woods
* Grassy Pond
* Greene Swamp
* Halfway Pond Island
* Hawley Bog
* Hockomock Swamp
* Hoft Farm
* Homer-Watcha
* Katama Plains
* McElwain-Olsen
* Miacomet Moors
* Reed Brook
* Roger and Virginia Drury
* Sandy Neck
* David H. Smith Preserve and Fire Trail
* Stacy Mountain
* Tatkon

Trustees of Reservations

* Governor Oliver Ames Estate
* Appleton Farms
* Ashintully Gardens
* Bartholomew's Cobble
* Bear Swamp
* Bear's Den
* Boston Community Gardens
* The Brickyard
* Bullitt
* Chestnut Hill Farm
* Colonel John Ashley House
* Dunes' Edge Campground
* Francis William Bird Park
* Eleanor Cabot Bradley Estate
* Bridge Island Meadows
* Brooks Woodland
* William Cullen Bryant Homestead
* Cape Poge
* Cedariver
* Castle Hill
* Chapel Brook
* Charles River Peninsula
* Chase Woodlands
* Chesterfield Gorge
* Coolidge
* Copicut Woods
* Cormier Woods
* Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge
* Crane Beach
* Crane Wildlife Refuge
* Crowninshield Island
* Dexter Drumlin
* Dinosaur Footprints
* Doane's Falls
* Doyle
* Dry Hill
* East Over
* Elliott Laurel
* Farandnear
* FARM Institute
* Field Farm
* Fruitlands Museum
* Fork Factory Brook
* Glendale Falls
* Goose Pond
* Greenwood Farm
* Hales Brook and Sippican River
* Halibut Point
* Hamlin
* Allen C. Haskell Public Gardens
* Holmes
* Governor Hutchinson's Field
* Jacobs Hill
* Little Tom Mountain
* Land of Providence
* Leatherbee Woods
* Long Hill
* Long Point
* Lowell Holly
* Lyman
* Malcolm
* Mashpee River
* McLennan
* Medfield Meadow Lots
* Medfield Rhododendrons
* Menemsha Hills and The Brickyard
* Misery Islands
* Mission House
* The Monoliths
* Monument Mountain
* Moose Hill Farm
* Moraine Farm
* Mount Ann
* Mount Warner
* Mountain Meadow
* Mytoi
* Naumkeag
* Noanet Woodlands
* Noon Hill and Shattuck
* Norris
* North Common Meadow
* Norton Point Beach
* Notchview
* Old Manse
* Old Town Hill
* Peaked Mountain
* Pegan Hill
* Peters
* Petticoat Hill
* Pierce
* Pine and Hemlock Knoll
* Powisset Farm
* Questing
* Quinebaug Woods
* Ravenswood Park
* Redemption Rock
* Rock House
* Rocky Narrows
* Rocky Woods
* Royalston Falls
* Shattuck
* Signal Hill
* Slocum's River
* Stavros
* Stevens-Coolidge
* Swift River
* Tantiusques
* Tully Lake Campground
* Two Mile Farm
* Tyringham Cobble
* Ward
* Wasque
* Weir Hill
* Weir River Farm
* Westport Town Farm
* Whitney and Thayer Woods
* World's End

Audubon Society wildlife sanctuaries

* Allens Pond
* Arcadia
* Ashumet Holly
* Attleboro Springs
* Barnstable Great Marsh
* Blue Hills Trailside Museum
* Boston Nature Center
* Broad Meadow Brook
* Broadmoor
* Burncoat Pond
* Canoe Meadows
* Daniel Webster
* Drumlin Farm
* Eagle Lake
* Eastern Point
* Endicott
* Felix Neck
* Flat Rock
* Graves Farm
* Great Neck
* Habitat
* High Ledges
* Ipswich River
* Joppa Flats
* Kettle Island
* Lake Wampanoag
* Laughing Brook
* Lime Kiln Farm
* Lincoln Woods
* Long Pasture
* Lynes Woods
* Marblehead Neck
* Moose Hill
* Museum of American Bird Art
* Nahant Thicket
* Nashoba Brook
* North Hill Marsh
* North River
* Oak Knoll
* Pierpont Meadow
* Pleasant Valley
* Poor Farm Hill
* Richardson Brook
* Road's End
* Rough Meadows
* Rutland Brook
* Sampsons Island
* Sesachacha Heathlands
* Skunknett River
* Stony Brook
* Wachusett Meadow
* Waseeka
* Wellfleet Bay
* Wildwood Camp

Other

* Concord Land Conservation Trust
* Harvard Forest
* Lincoln Land Conservation Trust
* Lloyd Center for the Environment
* Lynn Woods Reservation
* Norcross Wildlife Sanctuary
* Old Harbor Wildlife Refuge

* Category
* Boston
* Emerald Necklace
* Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
* Commons

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Canals and reservoirs of Massachusetts

Canals|

* Blackstone Canal
* Broad Brook Canal
* Broad Canal
* Cape Cod Canal
* Hampshire and Hampden Canal
* Holyoke Canal System
* Jeremiah's Gutter
* Lechmere Canal
* Lowell Power Canal System and Pawtucket Gatehouse
* Madaket Ditch
* Merrimack Canal
* Middlesex Canal
* Mother Brook
* North Canal
* Pawtucket Canal
* Salem Beverly Waterway Canal
* South Hadley Canal
* Turners Falls Canal

Reservoirs|

| Connecticut River Watershed|

* Ashley Reservoir
* Lake Monomonac
* Lake Wyola
* Quabbin Reservoir
* Whiting Street Reservoir

|

Merrimack River Watershed|

* Haggetts Pond
* Lost Lake
* Wachusett Reservoir

Taunton River Watershed|

* Little Quittacas Pond
* Norton Reservoir

Others|

* Aaron River Reservoir
* Accord Pond
* Assawompset Pond
* Big Pond
* Blackmore Pond
* Briggs Reservoir (Manomet)
* Briggs Reservoir (Plymouth)
* Chestnut Hill Reservoir
* East Head Reservoir
* Fisher Hill Reservoir
* Fort Meadow Reservoir
* Fresh Pond
* Great Quittacas Pond
* Great Sandy Bottom Pond
* High Service Water Tower and Reservoir
* Little South Pond
* Littleville Lake
* Miscoe Lake
* Neponset Reservoir
* Otis Reservoir
* Round Pond
* Silver Lake
* South Meadow Brook Reservoir
* Stockbridge Bowl
* Stony Brook
* Stump Pond
* Sudbury Reservoir
* Sugden Reservoir
* Tully Lake
* Walden Pond (Lynn)
* Weston Reservoir

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

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