Little Seneca Creek Montgomery County Maryland

Little Seneca Creek is an U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011 stream in Montgomery County,

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, roughly northwest of

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Geography

The creek drains portions of Clarksburg, Germantown, and Boyds. It rises south of

Damascus Damascus ( , ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in the Levant region by population, largest city of Syria. It is the oldest capital in the world and, according to some, the fourth Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. Kno ...

and flows southward about to Little Seneca Lake, a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

created by construction of a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

on the creek. The reservoir empties to the lower portion of the creek, which flows south about to Seneca Creek, which drains to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () is in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and flows from the Potomac Highlands in West Virginia to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography D ...

and the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula, including parts of the Ea ...

. A portion of the creek below the lake is a cold water stream that supports wild

rainbow A rainbow is an optical phenomenon caused by refraction, internal reflection and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a continuous spectrum of light appearing in the sky. The rainbow takes the form of a multicoloured circular ...

and

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...

populations. The creek and reservoir are a drinking water source as part of the Little Seneca system, an emergency

water supply Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavors or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes. Public water supply systems are crucial to properly functioning societies. Th ...

for the metropolitan

area.

Water quality issues

In 1994, the Montgomery County Council anticipated population growth in the Little Seneca watershed and imposed some restrictions on

housing development A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex, housing development, subdivision or community) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throug ...

and other new

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

in part of the watershed, in order to preserve

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

before development accelerated. A "Special Protection Area" was designated that requires additional controls for

stormwater Stormwater, also written storm water, is water that originates from precipitation (storm), including heavy rain and meltwater from hail and snow. Stormwater can soak into the soil ( infiltrate) and become groundwater, be stored on depressed lan ...

runoff, beyond those required of all new projects. However, the county reported in 2010 that its recent requirements for new construction projects had not been sufficient to prevent water quality impairment. Several large land development projects were constructed in Clarksburg and elsewhere in the watershed over the past several years. The county conducted biological monitoring of stream conditions and documented declines in water quality associated with the new construction. More comprehensive site designs to minimize stormwater runoff, such as conservation design or low impact development designs, were recommended. In 2014, the County Council set additional limits on development projects in order to protect the quality of the Tenmile Creek tributary and adjacent habitat.

Tributaries

*Boyds Tributary *Brodsky Tributary *Bucklodge Branch *Cabin Branch *Churchill Tributary *Germantown Estates Tributary *Milestone Tributary * Tenmile Creek *Town Center Tributary

References

External links

Seneca Creek Watershed Partners
- Volunteer stewardship organization

- Riverfacts.com Rivers of Montgomery County, Maryland Rivers of Maryland Tributaries of the Potomac River {{Maryland-river-stub

Geography

Water quality issues

Tributaries

See also

References

External links