USGS 011055566 Neponset River at Milton Village - Milton, MA - River Gauges on Waymarking.com

In Milton, by the Baker Dame and along the Neponset River, is a structure that is the USGS river gauge, 011055566.

The gauge is located at the Baker Dam wall, to the left as you approach the dam from the Neponset River Greenway. On both sides of the river are mutli-story brick buildings and a power house with a chimney that were part of the Walter Baker Chocolate Factory, now mostly residential units. The location has been where water has either been impeded by flow restricting structures or blocked by a dam since about 1640, making it one of the oldest dammed locations in the country. Upstream less than a mile is another dam, associated with a paper mill there). Upstream a couple miles is where the Mother Brook joins the Neponset River in the Hyde park neighborhood. Mother Brook contains water diverted from the Charles River (also since 1640), so water flow and level at this gauge is influenced by the amount of water coming from the Charles River - a completely different watershed.

The structure is the standard green shack, with a sign on it identifying it as being the USGS station. The shed has a low angle pyramidal roof. There is a post rising from it, and wires are strung from it. On the right side, there is also a small sign that says "Gary" - I have no idea what that is about.

The station collections started in 1996 and continue to the present day. This is from the USGS web site:

"Data Collection Platform with satellite telemeter. Datum of gauge is set to National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. From March 14, 2007 to December 10, 2009, gauge was located 20 ft upstream from Baker Dam and set to National Geodetic Vertical Datum of 1929. From November 1996 to March 2007, gauge was located 100 ft downstream of Baker Dam at arbitrary datum."

The web site also describes other aspects. The actual stage gage is currently below the dam. Below the dam, the Neponset River flows out to a brackish estuary. Thus, the site is tidal. The web page describes the time when the sensor was above the dam. There is also a volume discharge sensor. Both have graphs on the web site, updated basically continuously.

Their partner is the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.

RIVER GAUGE INFORMATION: Records have been collected at or near this location in 1996. At this location two parameters are measured and graphs posted on the station web site: stage height and volume discharge. WEB LINK FOR RIVER GAUGE: [Web Link] ANY ADDITIONAL WAYPOINT: Not Listed

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