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Mill River (Connecticut)

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Coordinates:41°25′15″N72°54′12″W / 41.42083°N 72.90333°W /41.42083; -72.90333

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

River in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States

Not to be confused withMill River (Fairfield, Connecticut) or parts of theRippowam River in Stamford, Connecticut.

TheMill River is ariver inNew Haven County, Connecticut, United States.^[1]

Mill River, Hamden, Connecticut.Sleeping Giant Mountain in background.

Map showing the Mill River and other rivers draining to New Haven Harbor, with their combined watersheds.

History

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A mill for grinding corn was built on aQuinnipiack ford nearEast Rock in 1642. By 1780 there were eight mills. In time the river provided power forEli Whitney's gun factory, now theEli Whitney Museum.It joins the Quinnipiac River at the mouth of New Haven Harbor which opens out intoLong Island Sound.

Watershed and course

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The river starts in the town ofCheshire, flows throughHamden andNew Haven, and discharges intoNew Haven Harbor onLong Island Sound. The upper portion of the river is formed from eastern and western branches, the latter of which is sometimes called Willow Brook. The river's length is 17.4 miles (28.0 km).^[2] The river is dammed in southern Hamden to formLake Whitney, which is operated as a reservoir by theSouth Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority.

Mill River passes throughSleeping Giant State Park in northern Hamden andEast Rock Park below Lake Whitney in Hamden. These are among the river's reaches that remain undeveloped and are popular spots forfishing andhiking.

The USGS has maintained a gauge (01196620) near Sleeping Giant for the past 41 year to continuously monitor flow. Real time data are availablehere.

Atrail is under development that follows the course of the river, especially in the city of New Haven.

The lower portion of the river is a fresh tidal system because of the existence of tide gates that cyclically block flow near State Street in New Haven. This section of the river is the subject ofresearch to determine how sediments, metals, and other substances cycle through the estuary.

The Mill River tide gates near State Street, New Haven, at slack tide.

English Station, an abandonedpower plant, lies on Ball Island in the New Haven terminus of the river. There has been astudy of PAHs in this section of the river.

Ecology and conservation

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In 2018 a plan for protecting and restoring the Mill River Watershed was developed through collaboration betweenSave the Sound andConnecticut DEEP.^[3]

The river and its watershed are stewarded by a volunteer group, theMill River Watershed Association.

In July 2020, 2.1 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into the Mill River when a corroded sewage pipe broke. Within a week the broken pipe was replaced and city officials announced water samples from the river showed safe levels of bacteria.^[4]

References

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^Mill River Basin: 01196620 Mill River near Hamden, page 168 in U.S. Geological SurveyWater Resources Data, Connecticut, Water Year 2005
^U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data.The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at theWayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
^"Mill River Watershed Management Plan".
^Breen, Thomas."After Spill, Concerns Turn To Infrastructure". New Haven Independent. Retrieved23 May 2022.

Black Rock Harbor	Ash Creek Rooster River
Bridgeport Harbor	Pequonnock River
Connecticut River Watershed	Blackledge River Coginchaug River Connecticut River Duck River Eightmile River Falls River Farmington River Hockanum River Hubbard River Jeremy River Lieutenant River Mattabesset River Nepaug River Pameacha Creek Park River Pequabuck River Podunk River Salmon River Scantic River
Housatonic River Watershed	Blackberry River East Aspetuck River Housatonic River Konkapot River Mad River Naugatuck River Pomperaug River Rocky River Schenob Brook Shepaug River Still River Ten Mile River Whiting River
Little Narragansett Bay (Pawcatuck River Watershed)	Ashaway River Green Fall River Pawcatuck River Shunock River Wood River
Milford Harbor	Wepawaug River
New Haven Harbor	Mill River Quinnipiac River West River
Norwalk Harbor (Norwalk River Watershed)	Norwalk River Silvermine River
Saugatuck River Watershed	Aspetuck River Saugatuck River
Thames River Watershed	Basset Brook Beaver Brook Bigelow Brook Fenton River Fishers Brook Five Mile River French River Hop River Little River Merrick Brook Moosup River Mount Hope River Natchaug River Oxoboxo River Pachaug River Quinebaug River Shetucket River Thames River Willimantic River Yantic River
Others	Black Hall River Byram River Cove River Farm River Hammonasset River Indian River Mianus River Mill River (Fairfield) Mystic River Niantic River Noroton River Oyster River Rippowam River