Buzzards Bay provides estuarine habitat that affords numerous economic, aesthetic, recreational, and wildlife benefits for the coastal communities located within the watershed.  These benefits range from commercial shellfish harvesting to the tourism contributions of scenic vistas and relatively good water quality. 

Buzzards Bay Watershed (Click to Enlarge)

Jagged coastlines create a wealth of diverse tidal habitats for marine associated wildlife, including 5,000 acres of saltmarsh, 10,500 acres of subtidal seagrass habitats, and 5,000 acres of productive tidal flats. 

Despite localized contamination in the vicinity of New Bedford Harbor, Buzzards Bay has avoided many of the water quality problems that plague other more urbanized coastal watersheds on the eastern seaboard. Nevertheless, land development and a growing population have degraded the Bay’s natural resources, particularly in the Bay’s 30 small coves and harbors where the impacts of inappropriate development have most critically impacted the estuary.

Recent studies conclude that the major pollutant threats to the Bay system are excessive nutrient loadings from polluted runoff and groundwater and bacterial contamination from improper sewage disposal and stormwater runoff.  All of these threats posed to the Bay are directly related to the region’s population growth and land use.  With approximately 40% of the Bay’s forested drainage basin located within ½ mile of the coastline, land management is critical to the future of this estuary.