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Mill River Watershed
Assessment Project
In the summer of 1997, the Smith College Environmental Science Program initiated an
interdisciplinary pilot study of the Mill River sub-watershed system through funding
from the Sylvio O. Conte National Fish and Wildlife Refuge and the Clark Science Center
Summer Student Research Program. The Mill River system is a 31,000-acre located in the
Massachusetts townships of Conway, Deerfield, Whately, Hatfield, Williamsburg, and Northampton.
The Mill River watershed is of particular importance because it contains one of the more
significant, viable populations of the Dwarf Wedge Mussel (Alasmidonta heterodon) in the
United States. The Dwarf Wedge Mussel is listed on the Federal Endangered Species List. Since
mussels are excellent bioindicators of water quality, this study provides not only the opportunity
to better understand the problems of an endangered species, but also the larger watershed system
which it inhabits.
Assessing the impact of human activity within the Mill River system is an essential aspect of the
study. Although the Northwestern portions of the watershed are rural and forested, a significant
percentage of the system is influenced by adjacent agricultural land, residential and commercial
development, channelization, and the Interstate 91 corridor. The disruption of habitat and
vegetation, and the influence of run-off on water quality pose fundamental threats to the ecological
viability of this system. The ability to compare more rural areas of the watershed to those
undergoing agriculture or suburbanization provides an excellent opportunity to understand human
impact on natural populations and communities. The research contributes to more informed
management and policy decisions as they relate to the future of the Mill River watershed system.
To examine the Mill River sub-watershed in such a manner, we have designed an interdisciplinary,
collaborative study. In the summer 1997 pilot study, four subdisciplinary areas were examined:
water quality, riparian corridor vegetation, mussel-fish host relationships, and ecotoxicology.
Smith faculty members Robert Newton,
John Burk, and
Robert Merritt, and University of Massachusetts
Professor of Environmental Science John Newsted,
guide the research in these subdisciplines,
respectively. Tom Litwin serves as the Project Leader. Seven undergraduate and graduate students
partipated in the study. Smith biologist Robert McMaster is serving as the project Field Coordinator.
A significant aspect of this project is the high degree of coordination and collaboration amongst the
participating investigators and students. Rather than four independent studies, the research design
for the Mill River study is being constructed as a single, integrated effort having four foci.
Hypotheses are being jointly examined; samping methods and locations are being coordinated; and field
resources are being shared. The goal is to provide a multidimensional, cumulative examination of the
issues, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts. Equally important is the ability to
demonstrate to students the value of collaboration and the interrelatedness of environmental science.
A technically unifying feature of the project is the creation of a Geogrpahical Information System
(GIS). Using GIS technology, each of the four areas of data collection (water quality analysis,
vegetation/land use survey, mussel/fish survey, and toxicology analysis) can be spatially
referenced to a common base map. Often USGS topographic maps or state transportation maps are used
for base maps. Within a GIS, each database can be viewed as a "map layer" that corresponds
to a specific location on the ground, or on the base map. Since all the layers are referenced
to a common base map, they can be analyzed not only in relation to the base map, but also to the other
map data layers. This results in a powerful analytical tool which permits researchers and policy
makers to examine correlations between the various data layers. As the Mill River Study expands,
additional map data layers can be added, further enriching the researchers' analytical and decision
making capabilities.
At its conclusion, the study will provide a unified analysis of the Mill River watershed, its habitat
and land use components, the relationship of various vertebrate species to the system, and the impact
that human activity is having on the systems' hydrological and biotic elements. This information is
essential to regional and local planners as they attempt to chart the future of the Connecticut
River Valley's landscape and the two million people who reside upon it.
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