A City Master Plan <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> <strong>2020</strong>The pond is used by people for recreational boating and fish-and-release. Sassaquin Pond is a 34-acre, warmwater, kettle pond that is moderately deep (about seven feet on average) and clear, located within the TauntonRiver Watershed. Residents heavily utilize it, with many cottages along its shores.The Acushnet River watershed en<strong>com</strong>passes approximately 11,497 acres and covers six principalmunicipalities, including <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong>, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Rochester, Freetown, and Lakeville. According tothe 2003 Coalition for Buzzards Bay State of the Bay Report, 24.5% of the watershed is developed, 7.3% isprotected open space, and 68.2% is undeveloped unprotected open space. The watershed also contains the <strong>New</strong><strong>Bedford</strong> Reservoir, which is located in the Town of Acushnet, but owned by the City. 4 It is not currently usedfor water supply, but remains as an emergency reserve.WetlandsAlthough much of <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong>’s land area has been developed,large forested wetland areas remain in the northwestern section ofthe city, including the 1,800-acre Acushnet Cedar Swamp, one ofMassachusetts’ largest, most wild and most impenetrable swamps. Itabuts the <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> Regional Airport to the north, and anotherlarge swamp, the Apponagansett, surrounds the southern portion.The Acushnet Cedar Swamp is an outstanding example of a CoastalAtlantic Cedar Swamp and was acquired by the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts in 1971 for the preservation, enjoyment, andeducation of the public. Managed by the Massachusetts Departmentof Conservation and Recreation (DCR), it was designated a NaturalNational Landmark in 1972 and is re<strong>com</strong>mended as a PriorityProtection Area in the South Coast Rail Economic Development andLand Use Corridor Plan. 5 Figure 8.1, provided at the end of thischapter, shows the region’s Priority Protection Areas.According to the Department ofConservation Services, land within a<strong>com</strong>munity is protected in perpetuity ifit is owned by the local ConservationCommission, by the Commonwealth’sExecutive Office of Energy andEnvironmental Affairs agencies, or by a nonprofitland trust, or if the City received stateor federal monies for the improvement orpurchase of the land.FisheriesFor years shellfish beds in Buzzards Bay, Clarks Cove, and <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> Harbor were closed due tocontamination. It was not until 1996 when the City’s wastewater treatment plant was opened, that the waterquality of Buzzards Bay was improved, resulting in opening approximately 575 acres of shell fishing area in theBay and 300 acres in the Outer Harbor. Today, a seasonal recreational fin fishery exists along <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong>’sshores, with residents and visitors from as far away as <strong>New</strong> York and Canada, <strong>com</strong>ing to fish for scup,flounder, bluefish, and striped bass.Open Space and Recreation LandsThe 2008 OSRP provides a detailed inventory of all publicly and privately held open space and recreationalresources, including City parks and playgrounds, conservation land held by the Commonwealth, BristolCounty, or the City, land owned by non-profit entities, and undeveloped privately-owned land, some of whichmay be preserved under a conservation restriction or some similar instrument. Figure 8.2, provided at the endof this chapter, depicts the inventory of protected open space/recreation parcels. Typically, land owned by Cityagencies and the local school system should not be presumed to be permanently protected. Figure 8. 3,provided at the end of this chapter, depicts the inventory of these unprotected parcels, which includesrecreational areas, such as parks, cemeteries (often used for walking), and other lands that are under thejurisdiction of the Park Department, School Department, and private recreational areas.4 For more information refer to Water Division under Department of Public Infrastructure in Chapter 11,City Services and Resources5 Executive Office of Transportation, Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development, South Coast Rail Economic Development and Land Use Corridor Plan, June 2009.(website: http://www.southcoastrail.<strong>com</strong>/downloads/3%20-%20South%20Coast%20Rail%20Corridor%20Plan%20-%20Low%20Resolution.pdf)Open Space, Recreation and Natural Resources8-3
A City Master Plan <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> <strong>2020</strong>Environmental ChallengesThe <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> Harbor has survived many abuses andpressures that have historically ac<strong>com</strong>panied residentialand industrial growth—loss of open space and naturalareas, filling of wetlands and salt marshes, andcontamination of land and water. <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> containstwo Superfund sites on the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency’s National Priorities List, one of which is <strong>New</strong><strong>Bedford</strong> Harbor. Nonetheless, the City is maximizingrecreational opportunities that are <strong>com</strong>patible with waterand sediment quality in the harbor. Recent examplesinclude the <strong>com</strong>pletion of the Riverside Park, and theCity’s partnership with Community Rowing Inc. tointroduce <strong>com</strong>petitive rowing on the Acushnet River andin the harbor.Credit: Joyce GoodmanThe other major environmental challenge for <strong>New</strong> <strong>Bedford</strong> is that part of the City’s sewer system remains a<strong>com</strong>bined system, the function of which is to collect sewage and stormwater runoff and convey them to aninterceptor system. During and following a precipitation event, <strong>com</strong>bined flow in excess of the interceptorcapacity is discharged directly into the harbor and Buzzards Bay through CSO outlets. Recent sewer separationprojects undertaken by the Waste Water Division have resulted in reducing the number of CSOs from 41 to 26.Shell fishing areas are particularly sensitive to the adverse impacts of CSO discharges and the reopening of thebeds is indicative of the fact that these impacts are being mitigated.Open Space, Recreation and Natural Resources8-4
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