The Taunton River basin is located in Norfolk, Plymouth, and Bristol Counties. The basin contains all or part of 43 cities and towns, including the cities of Attleboro, Brockton, Fall River, and New Bedford.

The basin is characterized by low, rolling hills with maximum elevations of about 450 ft above sea level, and by lowlands that contain swamps. The following description of the water resources of the Taunton basin is based on Hydrologic Investigations Atlases 460 (Williams and others, 1973) and 300 (Williams, 1968).