MORE INFO ON THE WEKEPEKE BROOK WATERSHED AND THE WEKEPEKE AQUIFER

NASHUA RIVER WATERSHED ASSOCIATION INFO ON THE WEKEPEKE BROOK WATERSHED AND WEKEPEKE AQUIFER

Here is the NRWA Wekepeke Basin webpage that provides good information about Wekepeke Brook, the Wekepeke Drainage Basin, and the Wekepeke Aquifer– nrwa@NashuaRiverWatershed.org I hope that the NRWA updates that page with current data soon.

GEOLOGY AND HYDROLOGY RESOURCES AVAILABLE TO TOWN OF STERLING OFFICIALS

Any Town of Sterling officials having a beef with the presently-mapped MassDEP Wellhead Protection Area Zone II boundaries for the City of Leominster Jungle Road well field, corresponding with the North Sterling Aquifer Protection Zone Overlay Map, should contact the Massachusetts Geological Survey and Massachusetts State Geologist who, in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey, work on Massachusetts hydrology studies and who are updating the Massachusetts surficial and bedrock geology maps. SEE http://mgs.geo.umass.edu/ and https://mgs.geo.umass.edu/about/mgs-staff

Research into groundwater storage continues. A UMass-Amherst hydrologist discovered recently that upland glacial tills store large groundwater volumes. Glacial tills were essentially disregarded as groundwater storage resources before 2017. Now those geological units must be factored into groundwater assessment and mapping, too. SEE https://www.umass.edu/newsoffice/article/new-england%E2%80%99s-glacial-upland-soils-provide

IN ADDITION, the U.S.G.S. New England Water Science Center is just down the road in Northborough. SEE https://www.usgs.gov/centers/new-england-water

Any new data indicating that that Zone II area should be reduced in size should be brought to the attention of MassDEP and MassGIS officials before attempts are made to re-zone at a Sterling Town Meeting the North Sterling Aquifer Protection Overlay area.

J.G.