The Coginchaug River in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

, with a watershed including 39 sq mi of forests,

pasture Pasture (from the Latin ''pastus'', past participle of ''pascere'', "to feed") is land used for grazing. Pasture lands in the narrow sense are enclosed tracts of farmland, grazed by domesticated livestock, such as horses, cattle, sheep, or sw ...

s, farmland, industrial, and commercial areas, is the main

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drai ...

of the

Mattabesset River The Mattabesset River as delineated on present-day maps flows out of Harts Ponds in the town of Berlin and travels east to the Connecticut River, passing Kensington and later forming the boundary between Middletown and Cromwell.U.S. Geological Sur ...

. It is 16.1 mi long, and the river flows northwards from a point approximately 1.8 mi south of the

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

line in

Guilford, Connecticut Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the Connecticut seacoast. The population was 22,073 at the 2020 census. History Guil ...

, into Durham and then Middlefield, meeting the Mattabesset in Middletown, about upstream of the Connecticut River. The name "Coginchaug" comes from a local Native American name for the Durham area and it was the original name for the town. It has been said to mean "The Great Swamp", and is a reference to the

meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artificia ...

found in the central part of town. In 2006, the Coginchaug was among Connecticut's 85 waterways cited to be of "lower quality", in view of the elevated levels of

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one Cell (biology), biological cell. They constitute a large domain (biology), domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometr ...

, including '' E. coli''. Currently, efforts are being made by the Natural Resources Conservation Service of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

to reduce the number of bacteria introduced into the river from untreated sewage,

sanitary sewer overflow Sanitary sewer overflow (SSO) is a condition in which untreated sewage is discharged from a sanitary sewer into the environment prior to reaching sewage treatment facilities. When caused by rainfall it is also known as wet weather overflow. Cause ...

agricultural runoff Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pol ...

, leaking

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatm ...

s, etc.

Canoeing

The river has become a popular canoeing route. In 2006, it was considered safe for canoeing, though it is not safe for in-water activities like

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

. Flowing from Myer Huber Pond, it runs slowly through thick swamps which stretch over and are likely to be impassable except immediately after heavy rains. The main paddling route starts at Route 147 and continues downstream, north, through additional slow-moving waters and a swamp. There are many portages, including those at six dams and at Wadsworth Falls, the only major waterfall. Class II

whitewater Whitewater forms in a rapid context, in particular, when a river's gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that froths, making the water appear opaque and ...

is possible before it flows into the

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...

of the Mattabesset River.

References

External links

Connecticut Explorer's Guide
online paddling map of the Coginchaug River {{authority control Rivers of Middlesex County, Connecticut Connecticut placenames of Native American origin Middletown, Connecticut Middlefield, Connecticut Durham, Connecticut Tourist attractions in Middlesex County, Connecticut Tributaries of the Connecticut River Rivers of Connecticut

Canoeing

See also

References

External links