Massachusetts Major Drainage Basins

The data here were originally produced by MassGIS. MassGIS defines drainage basins (using the USGS Water Resources Division definition) as, "The land area drained by a river or stream." Related terms are: Drainage area: "The drainage area of a stream at a specified location is that area, measured in a horizontal plane, which is enclosed by a drainage divide." and, Drainage divide: "Boundary between adjoining drainage basins" This layer was derived from the Massachusetts Electronic Atlas (MEA) which was a collaborative project to provides access, via the Internet, to data about the Commonwealth, its thirteen regional planning agency districts and 351 cities and towns.

This dataset is now only available via The Harvard Geospatial Library. MassGIS has MassGIS has produced a statewide digital datalayer of the 28 major drainage basins of Massachusetts. The datalayer is called MAJ_BAS.