Assabet River NWR Final CCP - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Eastern Massachusetts National Wildlife Refuge Complex Draft CCP/EA November 26, 2003
Affected Environment
General resources
One respondent requests that the FWS include in its bibliography the respondent’s
publication, “A Bibliography of the Biodiversity and the Natural History of the Sudbury
River- Concord River Valley, including the Great Meadows, the Estabrook Woods, and
Walden Woods.”
One respondent avows support for “projects that deal with restoring the native ecology to the
area.”
Water quality
One respondent requests protection of water quality and quantity in the Assabet River
corridor and drainage. Related to the issue of quantity, one respondent raises the issue of
connected aquifers: “Areas outside the scope of the CCP and town water supply wells (Pg. 1-
24): Protecting the remaining base flow—the groundwater that supplies flow to the streams
during dry times—in the tributaries and main stem of the Assabet River is critical to
protecting water quality and aquatic habitat in the watershed . . . therefore, we suggest that
any requests for access to the refuges for the purpose of drilling new water supply wells be
reviewed for impacts to the wetlands and tributary streams on and off the refuges and suggest
using the groundwater model of the Assabet River watershed currently being developed by
the US Geological Survey (Northborough) to evaluate potential habitat impacts of proposed
increased withdrawals.”
One respondent argues that water quality degradation should be a critical part of the
CCP/EA, rather than being considered out of scope: “I thought the water quality section was
weak. Having raised the red flag that the rivers are heavily contaminated, I did not feel that
the text clearly explained what that meant for the public and for wildlife in the refuge, and
what the prospects for correction are. For example, I had thought that a major current issue
was discharge of excessive nutrients from waste water treatment plants leading
eutrophication and low-oxygen conditions.”
Vegetation
Respondents request that the FWS complete proposed cover-type maps to assess species
occurrence and distribution. One respondent provides extensive advice: “Biological
Inventories and Mapping Alternative B calls for a thorough inventory of all species on the
refuges: It would be ideal to be that comprehensive. If priorities are needed, we suggest the
following order of importance: Reptiles, especially turtles; Complete documentation of
vernal pools; Invertebrates: Select representative habitats to inventory macro invertebrates in
order to provide a representational picture of invertebrates in the different habitats on the
refuge and to identify any rare species. Invertebrates can also serve as indicators of overall
Summary of Comments 8