Roaring Brook

Roaring Brook.

Roaring Brook, which drains 3,470 acres in the towns of Conway and Whately, is a major tributary to the Mill River, providing a pulse of cold, clean water that helps dilute the warmer, degraded waters of nearby Bloody Brook. Much of the Roaring Brook watershed is rugged forestland, laced with stonewalls and dotted with small farms and scattered residences. The brook itself flows primarily through forest, much of which is owned by the South Deerfield Water District and the Conway State Forest. After passing through the South Deerfield Reservoirs, the brook leaps down a short, rocky course until North Street in Whately, where its gradient becomes nearly level. From here, the brook meanders another half mile through beaver ponds and meadows before merging with the Mill River.

Roaring Brook & Water Supplies
Soon after 1900, South Deerfield received approval from the state to create a reservoir by building a dam in Whately Glen, an impressive rocky gorge carved by Roaring Brook. In the late 1960's a much larger reservoir was constructed to meet the community's increased water needs. And then, during the 1980's, the reservoirs took on an even more important role as a clean water supply when several local public drinking water supply wells were found to be contaminated with the agricultural pesticide known as ethyl dibromide (EDB). At present the South Deerfield Water District is permitted to withdraw an average of 650,000 gallons per day, all of which flows through a newly constructed sand filtration system built to improve the water's safety, taste, and appearance. Through the Mill River Project, concerns have been raised by researchers, state and federal agencies that additional water withdrawals might cause deleterious impacts to the rare species and other aquatic fauna downstream. With this information, the South Deerfield Water District has begun to explore conservation alternatives and the possibility of locating an additional well site to meet future water needs.