The Weweantic River is a 17 miles (27.4 km) river in southeastern Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

. Its name means "crooked" or "wandering stream" in the Wampanoag language.

The river arises in wetlands in Carver

Carver, Massachusetts

Carver is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 11,163 at the 2000 census, with an estimated 2008 population of 11,574. It is named for John Carver, the first governor of the Plymouth Colony.- Demographics :...

, meanders generally south through swampy birch and maple forests in Middleborough

Middleborough, Massachusetts

Middleborough is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 21,117 as of 2008.For geographic and demographic information on the village of Middleborough Center, please see the article Middleborough Center, Massachusetts....

 and Rochester

Rochester, Massachusetts

Rochester is a town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 5,232 at the 2010 census.-History:Rochester was settled in 1679 on the lands called "Sippican" by the local Wampanoags, along the coast of Buzzards Bay...

, and drains into a Buzzards Bay

Buzzards Bay (bay)

Buzzards Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean adjacent to the U.S. state of Massachusetts. It is approximately 28 miles long by 8 miles wide. It is a popular destination for fishing, boating, and tourism. Since 1914, Buzzards Bay has been connected to Cape Cod Bay by the Cape Cod Canal...

 estuary in Wareham

Wareham, Massachusetts

Wareham is a town located in Plymouth County, Massachusetts. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 20,335, with an estimated 2008 population of 21,221....

 near the mouth of the Sippican River

Sippican River

The Sippican River is a short river in Massachusetts, United States.The Sippican River is long, arising from east and west branches in the towns of Mattapoisett, Marion , and Rochester, Massachusetts...

. Its watershed covers approximately 18000 acre, with many cranberry

Cranberry

Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus Oxycoccus of the genus Vaccinium. In some methods of classification, Oxycoccus is regarded as a genus in its own right...

 bogs in its upper reaches.

Although the river has historically abounded in fish and shellfish, it currently has no significant herring population due to dam obstruction below Horseshoe Pond, and is closed to shellfish harvesting due to bacteria

Bacteria

Bacteria are a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria have a wide range of shapes, ranging from spheres to rods and spirals...

l contamination.