Surface water

In Massachusetts, the Ten Mile River drains about 49 mi2, and the coastal basins of Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay Shore drain about 112 mi2. These basins encompass the drainage areas of small streams that drain between north-to-south trending hills to Mount Hope Bay, Rhode Island Sound, and through Rhode Island to Narragansett Bay. The land is low-lying and contains many wetlands and small lakes and ponds. The Ten Mile River basin contains 50 lakes and ponds, many of which are located along the main channel of the Ten Mile River. Twenty-seven of the lakes in the basin have an area of 10 acres or more. The largest lake is Manchester Reservoir in Attleboro, which is 218 acres.

The basins of Narragansett Bay and Mount Hope Bay Shore contain about 57 lakes and ponds. Three lakes, Copicut Reservoir in Fall River and Dartmouth (550 acres), and North Watuppa Lake (Reservoir) (1,750 acres) and South Watuppa Pond (Lake) in Fall River and Westport (1,660 acres) are larger than 500 acres.

The Ten Mile River begins in a pond in Plainville and flows about 15 mi in a southerly direction through the urbanized areas of North Attleboro, Attleboro, and Seekonk before crossing into Rhode Island. The river is crossed by many dams, and, for much of its length, flows through impoundments or is confined by concrete or masonry retaining walls. Much of the drop in river elevation from about 230 ft above sea level in the headwaters area to about 75 ft above sea level at the Massachusetts State border occurs at dams.