The Pamet River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
accessed April 1, 2011 river in

Truro, Massachusetts Truro is a town in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States, comprising two villages: Truro and North Truro. Located slightly more than 100 miles (160 km) by road from Boston, it is a summer vacation community just south of the no ...

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. It is named for the Paomet tribe. The river is primarily

salt marsh A salt marsh or saltmarsh, also known as a coastal salt marsh or a tidal marsh, is a coastal ecosystem in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and open saltwater or brackish water that is regularly flooded by the tides. It is domin ...

, flows west nearly all the way across Cape Cod from its eastern beaches, and empties into

Cape Cod Bay A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...

. It lies a few miles south of the Little Pamet River. The upper Pamet River is made up of a

freshwater marsh A freshwater marsh is a non-tidal, non-forested marsh wetland that contains fresh water, and is continuously or frequently flooded. Freshwater marshes primarily consist of sedges, grasses, and emergent plants. Freshwater marshes are usually found ...

. The marsh occupies the broad floor of the upper Pamet River valley. Originally, 12,000–13,000 years ago, this was the glacial outwash channel that drained water away from the glacier westward, northward and finally eastward into the Atlantic some distance from where

Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

now lies. Sea level was then lower than it is today. There was no Cape Cod Bay, and Stellwagen Bank and the

Grand Banks The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...

were hills well above the ocean. The subsequent rise of the Atlantic Ocean, which continues to this day, nearly drowned the outer Cape, including the Pamet, which is now only four miles long, compared to long thousands of years ago. This upper freshwater marsh dates from the middle 19th century, when, to promote agriculture, the saltwater tides were prevented from entering by means of a

dike Dyke (UK) or dike (US) may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), a subvertical sheet-like intrusion of magma or sediment * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess of moral justice * Dikes ...

that traverses the valley where Truro Center Road (a former routing of

US Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the U.S. Highway system. While it currently runs east-northeast from Bishop, California, to ...

) now passes. A one-way

clapper valve A check valve, non-return valve, reflux valve, retention valve, foot valve, or one-way valve is a valve that normally allows fluid (liquid or gas) to flow through it in only one direction. Check valves are two-port valves, meaning they have ...

permitted fresh water to leave at low tide. The result is the meandering, slow-flowing stream that flows from the Atlantic dunes at Ballston Beach west to the bay, with low, flat banks that lie just above the water table. The entire valley, fresh and salt, is underlain by a thick mat of peat derived from the original salt marshes. All plant species growing in this upper portion were brought in as seeds, mostly by birds and mammals. All are indigenous, and virtually none is tolerant of seawater. MassWildlife has stocked the river with trout.http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/recreation/fishing/trout/trout_waters_sd.htm Mass. Dept. of Fisheries & Wildlife: Trout Stocked Waters 2009

References

{{authority control Rivers of Barnstable County, Massachusetts Marshes of Massachusetts Rivers of Massachusetts