Higher levels of rainfall, groundwater levels, and baseflows in rural New England have been observed in the past few decades. However, at the same time, some Massachusetts basins have had record-low streamflows. To determine what is causing these atypical events, USGS analyzed possible drivers of low streamflows over nearly 80 years and sought to determine whether or not these drivers have changed since the drought of the 1960s.  “This study showed that both changing climate and the ways in which humans use land and water impact low streamflows,” said physical scientist and lead author Cathy Chamberlin.  The Process USGS researchers first calculated six low-flow numbers from available streamflow data at 107 different streamgages between 1943 and 2022 that describe how low streamflows drop and for how long these low streamflows last. Then, they identified sites where streamflows have, and have not, decreased since the 1960s.…