The Paskamanset River, also known as the Paskamansett River, is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 river in

New Bedford New Bedford (Massachusett: ) is a city in Bristol County, Massachusetts. It is located on the Acushnet River in what is known as the South Coast region. Up through the 17th century, the area was the territory of the Wampanoag Native American pe ...

and Dartmouth, Massachusetts. The Paskamanset and

Slocums River Slocums River (sometimes seen as Slocum's River or Slocum River) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed April 1, 2011 tidal river in southeastern Massachusetts in the United ...

really form just a single river, but the freshwater portion kept its earlier Indian name, while the salt-water portion is named for early English settlers, the Slocum family. The river originates in the Acushnet cedar swamp in

, and in Sassaquin Pond, also called Myles Pond. It runs through

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

, passing under

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to P ...

and the town's former dump, and heading toward Russells Mills, and eventually drains into the Slocums River, with an associated floodplain in Apponagansett Swamp. The river has been polluted for some years, mainly by pathogens and overly high nitrogen levels. Both appear caused primarily by the town's dump. It was closed in 1995 and capped to prevent future contaminated runoff, but decades of waste have been leaching into the river. In addition, although the river has historically supported large river herring runs, the fish have greatly declined since the mid-1970s. This may be caused by rapid urbanization and by dam construction. Efforts are now underway to restore herring runs to the river.

References

Environmental Protection Agency

New Bedford Regional Airport Technical Memorandum No. 1.10: Wetlands

* Rivers of Bristol County, Massachusetts Rivers of Massachusetts {{Massachusetts-river-stub