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What makes the Pawcatuck Watershed so special? With an area of 300 square miles (194,000 acres) the watershed spans 14 towns in two states: southwestern RI and southeastern CT. It encompasses one quarter of RI’s land area and features a remarkably rural and unspoiled natural setting. It includes the Great Swamp, Burlingame, Carolina, and Arcadia State Management Areas, along with portions of CT’s Pachaug State Forest. Several important Audubon and Nature Conservancy properties protect invaluable habitat. The watershed is still 70% forested and is home to nearly 70% of RI’s globally rare species and 65% of the state’s rare species and unique natural communities. The highest concentration of turf farms found in the US make productive use of the fertile outwash plains in South County. A few of the state’s last remaining dairy farms contribute a country feel to the picturesque wooded roads. Historic mills and mill villages still dot the Wood and Pawcatuck Rivers. A walk along any of the lovely wooded trails in the area reveal numerous stone walls built by farmers who tried to make a living on the rough uplands. There are at least 53 canoeable miles on the Wood and the Pawcatuck Rivers. Anywhere along these routes a paddler might see great blue heron, osprey, painted turtles and beaver dams. Within the dense woods are the sounds and sights of a number of neotropical song birds. They migrate thousands of miles from Central and South America to make their nests and raise their young in the larger forested areas of the watershed. Native brook trout are found in the upper streams; rainbow and brown trout are stocked in most of the main reaches of the rivers and ponds of the watershed. The Wood River is considered the premier river in RI. It’s healthy riverine habitats set the standards by which all other rivers in the state are measured. In 1987 the region was designated by EPA as a sole source aquifer. In this case, all of the approximately 100,000 residents who live and work here depend on groundwater for all their drinking, household, industrial, and agricultural needs. The aquifers are actually a series of sand and gravel areas underground that hold vast quantities of groundwater which is easily pumped out. Some of these are in more heavily populated areas of the watershed, such as Westerly and South Kingstown.
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