The Taunton River rises near Brockton and flows generally south to Mount Hope Bay in Fall River. The waterway is used by recreational craft.

The original project, completed in 1895, provided for a nine-mile-long channel extending from deep water at Somerset, near the mouth of the Assonet River, to Taunton. The channel was 12 feet deep at Somerset and decreased to 11 feet at Taunton. The project in the Taunton River today consists of a 3.7-mile-long channel, 12 feet deep and 100 feet wide, that stretches from deep water at Somerset near the mouth of the Assonet River to Peters Point in Berkley. The channel passes through the communities of Freetown, Dighton, and Berkley. This work was completed in 1940.