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BUZZARDS BAY:

• Is 28 miles long, averages about 8 miles in width and has a mean depth of 36 feet.
• It has 280 miles of shoreline including 11 miles of public beaches.
• It has 30 major harbors and coves.
• Along its western shore, has seven major rivers and a number of small streams that flow in to it, including the Westport, Paskamansett, Acushnet, Mattapoisett, Weweantic, Wankinco and Agawam.
• The eastern (Cape Cod) shore is drained mostly by groundwater and a few small streams including the Back, Pocasset, and Wild Harbor Rivers, and Herring Brook.
• Water temperatures range from 71.6°F in summer to 28°F in winter. Complete tidal mixing of Bay water with offshore Atlantic Ocean water is estimated to occur every 10 days.

THE WATERSHED:

• A watershed is all the land area that drains to a given body of water. We all live in a watershed.
• The Buzzards Bay watershed is 432 square miles in size: twice the size of the Bay itself.
• Contains all or large parts of the towns of Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, Fairhaven, Acushnet, Rochester, Mattapoisett, Marion, Wareham, Carver, Plymouth, Bourne, Falmouth and Gosnold. Smaller parts of Tiverton, Fall River, Freetown and Middleborough also drain to the Bay.
• 50% of the Bay watershed is undeveloped and unprotected forestland, farms and wetlands.
• 25% is developed for residential, commercial and industrial uses.
• 25% is protected natural areas.