The Farm River watershed covers an area of approximately 25.5 square miles, or 16,300 acres. The river is fed by small streams as it flows south southwesterly through a narrow coastal watershed comprised of 16 local drainage basins. Major tributaries are Gulf Brook, Maloney Brook, and Burrs Brook. The watershed is approximately 14 miles long and two miles wide and drains into the Central Basin of Long Island. The final reach of the river, approximately two miles in length, and its bordering wetlands are tidally influenced and classified as an emergent estuary.
Water is diverted from the Farm River to provide drinking water for the region as well as irrigation for farms. Over 300 million gallons of water a day may be diverted from the watershed for drinking water purposes. There is only one major dam on the river at Pages Millpond on Mill Street in North Branford. A fish ladder was installed there in 2020 to allow for anadromous fish to access the upper river.
A diverse range of land uses define the Farm River watershed. While concentrations of residential and commercial development are more common in the watershed south of Foxon Road/State Route 80, this area also contains a few sizable undeveloped tracts of forests, inland wetlands, and the Estuary. The upper watershed is more rural and contains residential development at a relatively lower density (suburban and exurban) and smaller pockets of commercial development. In addition, the central and northern portions of the watershed north of Foxon Road contains nearly all the watershed’s remaining agricultural lands and the majority of its forested lands. In 2015, University of Connecticut’s Center for Land Use Education and Research (UConn-CLEAR) identified much of this forest as Core Forest, particularly lands owned and managed by the South-Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority (RWA), which protect public drinking water supplies. Overall, land cover in the watershed is predominantly deciduous and coniferous forest (43%) followed by developed areas, including turf and grass (36%) and agriculture (10%). The Tilcon Quarry in North Branford comprises approximately 2% of the watershed’s land area. Major regional transportation corridors in the watershed include Interstate 95 and U.S. Route 1. Interstate 91 is approximately two miles west of and runs parallel to the watershed. Other major roads are State Roads 17, 22, 80, and 100.
Friends of the Farm River and Estuary 