The Ponaganset River is a
river
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...
in the
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
state of
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...
. It flows approximately .
[U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data]
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 There are three dams along the river's length.
Governor's Task Force on Dam Safety and Maintenance – Final Report, January 2001
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Course
The river's source is Ponaganset Reservoir in Glocester, where water still flows naturally out of the lake, unimpeded by a dam. It then flows roughly southeast through Glocester and Foster, then into Scituate to the Scituate Reservoir
The Scituate Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the state of Rhode Island. It has an aggregate capacity of and a surface area of 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²). It and its six tributary reservoirs—which make up a total surface a ...
. The river used to converge with the Moswansicut River to form the North Branch Pawtuxet River in the area that is now flooded by the reservoir.
Crossings
Below is a list of all crossings over the Ponaganset River. The list starts at the headwaters and goes downstream.
*Glocester
**George Allen Road
*Foster
**Hartford Avenue ( RI 101)
**Winsor Road
**Pine Tree Road
**Old Danielson Pike
**Danielson Pike (U.S. 6
U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War Grand Army of the Republic, veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast fr ...
)
**Ram Tail Road
**Central Pike
*Scituate
**Ponaganset Road
**Plainfield Pike ( RI 14)
Tributaries
In addition to many unnamed tributaries, the following brooks feed the Ponaganset:
*Shippee Brook
*Winsor Brook
*Dolly Cole Brook
See also
*List of rivers in Rhode Island
This is a list of rivers in the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Rivers in bold are considered major rivers either geographically or historically.
By stream network
All rivers eventually empty into the Atlantic Ocean. Rivers are listed in order from we ...
* Moswansicut River
* North Branch Pawtuxet River
*Scituate Reservoir
The Scituate Reservoir is the largest inland body of water in the state of Rhode Island. It has an aggregate capacity of and a surface area of 5.3 square miles (13.7 km²). It and its six tributary reservoirs—which make up a total surface a ...
References
Rivers of Providence County, Rhode Island
Rivers of Rhode Island
Tributaries of Providence River
{{RhodeIsland-river-stub