The Westfield River is one of America's great rivers, splashing over waterfalls, nourishing farmland, and flowing past deep forests and historic New England towns. More than 78 miles of its branches and tributaries are designated as a National Wild & Scenic River, the first in Massachusetts and one of only a handful in the eastern United States, bringing recognition and resources to protect a pristine, healthy river that flows freely for long stretches, supports recreation, and provides one of Massachusetts' best coldwater fisheries. The river's watershed drains land from 23 towns in the Berkshire foothills and Connecticut River Valley into three main branches that join the Connecticut River at Agawam before reaching Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. Its waters may come from raindrops, pristine streams, melting snow, underground springs, lawn sprinklers, and dirty puddles on roads and parking lots, and although forests help clean the water, everyday human actions across the watershed can greatly affect the river. Local citizens petitioned for the river's National Wild & Scenic designation, uniting towns and organizations to advocate for its health and future, and the river's users and neighbors are called to help protect it from threats to its pristine condition. In March 1936, record snowpack and torrential rains caused disastrous flooding across the Northeast, and on the Westfield and Connecticut rivers ice-clogged waters destroyed homes and businesses and displaced tens of thousands of residents. Federally sponsored flood control projects, including Knightville Dam in 1941 and Littleville Dam in 1953, altered the course, flow, and nature of rivers, and while such dams avert catastrophic floods, they can also block fish spawning, restrict sediment that replenishes soils, and change water temperature in ways that harm native species. The effects of the 1936 Flood Control Act and the dwindling number of naturally free-flowing rivers helped spur creation of the National Wild & Scenic Rivers program, and the contrast between local dams and the Westfield's free-flowing stretches shows the difficulty of both controlling a river and preserving its richness.

Photo: Steve Stoessel

Photo: Steve Stoessel

Photo: Steve Stoessel