Open Space and Recreation Plan - Town of Natick

Draft 9-16-11
These drainages are classified as Class B waters under Massachusetts regulations (314 CMR 4.05).
The Charles River passes through the southeastern corner of Natick. Major sub-basins within the
Charles River watershed consist of Indian Brook (including Dug Pond), Davis Brook, and Jennings
Pond (which includes the Sunkaway region and Pickerel Pond). Natick's portion of the SuAsCo
watershed includes Lake Cochituate and Fisk Pond, with their tributary basins of Beaverdam Brook,
Course Brook, Pegan Brook and Snake Brook. Table 7 below is a list of all resources under each
watershed area:
TABLE 7
WATER RESOURCES
SuAsCo Watershed Charles Watershed
Lakes Cochituate Charles River
Little Roundy Nonesuch Pond
Fisk Pond Pickerel Pond
Course Brook Mud Pond
Meadow Pond Jennings Pond
Beaverdam Brook Morses Pond
Snake Brook Dug Pond
Pegan Brook Indian Brook
Wildwood/Speen Pond Davis Brook
Saddlebrook Pond
MacArthur Pond
Bacon Pond
Grist Mill Ponds
2. Surface Water
Water bodies and associated wetlands in Natick comprise a total of 1,287 acres, approximately 13.5
percent of the town’s gross acreage. The largest water body is Lake Cochituate, which covers
roughly 440 acres within Natick. A complete list of ponds and brooks is given in Table 7 above.
Surface waters in Natick provide many recreational opportunities. Lakes, ponds and rivers offer
fishing, swimming and boating. They are often surrounded by scenic walking trails with particularly
good areas for bird and animal watching. The Charles River has a boat launch at the dam that is
often used by canoers. Cochituate State Park encompasses all of Lake Cochituate and Fiske Pond
and provides swimming, boating, and picnicking opportunities. The Town maintains a swimming
beach at Dug Pond.
3. Aquifer Recharge Areas
The Aquifer and Recharge and Zone II areas are shown on Maps 7 and 8. The main aquifer
generally stripes the town’s subsurface from North to South, links to the north with Wayland and
stretches over to Weston, to the east to Framingham then south, to Sherborn. The recharge areas
are typically found in the second concentric circle around the aquifer area, but often sporadically
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