Monocacy River

For other streams named Monocacy, see Monocacy (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 39°13′22″N 77°27′15″W / 39.22278°N 77.45417°W / 39.22278; -77.45417

Monocacy River
The Monocacy River near Frederick in 2007
Country	United States
State	Maryland
Tributaries
- left	Piney Creek, Double Pipe Creek, Israel Creek, Linganore Creek, Furnace Branch
- right	Toms Creek, Tuscarora Creek, Carroll Creek, Ballenger Creek
City	Frederick
Source
- location	Harney, Carroll County, Maryland, USA
- elevation	400 ft (122 m)
- coordinates	39°43′11″N 77°13′03″W / 39.71972°N 77.2175°W / 39.71972; -77.2175
Mouth	Potomac River
- location	Dickerson, Maryland, USA
- elevation	200 ft (61 m)
- coordinates	39°13′22″N 77°27′15″W / 39.22278°N 77.45417°W / 39.22278; -77.45417
Length	58 mi (93 km)
Basin	744 sq mi (1,927 km2)
Discharge	for Frederick
- average	1,550 cu ft/s (44 m3/s)
- max	3,060 cu ft/s (87 m3/s)
- min	573 cu ft/s (16 m3/s)
Discharge elsewhere (average)
- Bridgeport, Frederick County, Maryland	400 cu ft/s (11 m3/s)
The Monocacy River watershed

The Monocacy River is a free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is 58.5 miles (94.1 km) long,^[1] with a drainage area of about 744 square miles (1,930 km²). It is the largest Maryland tributary to the Potomac.

The name "Monocacy" comes from the Shawnee name for the river, Monnockkesey, which translates to "river with many bends." (However, another local tradition asserts that "Monocacy" means "well-fenced garden" in an Indian language.) An unrelated stream, Monocacy Creek, is a tributary of the Lehigh River in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, in the United States.

The Monocacy National Battlefield lies alongside part of the river, marking an 1864 engagement during the American Civil War, the Battle of Monocacy Junction. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal crosses over the river at the Monocacy Aqueduct, the largest of the 11 aqueducts on the canal.

Geography

The river rises in Carroll County, Maryland, west of the unincorporated town of Harney, at the Maryland-Pennsylvania border. The river is formed by the confluence of Marsh Creek and Rock Creek, which flow out of Adams County, Pennsylvania. Maryland tributaries include Furnace Branch, Tuscarora Creek, Carroll Creek, Linganore Creek and Ballenger Creek in Frederick County and Double Pipe Creek in Carroll County; other Pennsylvania tributaries include Alloway Creek and Toms Creek in Adams County.

About 60% of the Monocacy watershed is dedicated to agricultural use; about 33% of the watershed is forested. The city of Frederick and its suburbs form the largest urban area within the watershed.

Pollution

The State of Maryland designated the Monocacy as a Maryland Scenic River in 1974.^[2] However, it has one of the greatest nonpoint source pollution problems in the state due in large part to runoff from the 3,500 farms, livestock operations and dairies in the watershed. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has listed the Monocacy with impaired water quality for sediment and fecal coliform bacteria.^[3][4] A major tributary basin, the Double Pipe Creek watershed, is also impaired for sediment and bacteria.^[5][6]

Some farmers in the Monocacy watershed participate in the national Conservation Security Program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), designed to help stem pollution due to erosion and pollutant runoff from farming.^[7] In the 1990s the watershed was part of a national water quality demonstration project sponsored by USDA, which helped farmers reduce fertilizer usage and reduced discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus to the river.^[8]

See also

• List of Maryland rivers
• List of rivers of Pennsylvania

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 15, 2011
2. ^ Monocacy Scenic River Advisory Board. "Monocacy Scenic River Study and Management Plan." Published by Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Annapolis, MD. 1990. p.3.
3. ^ Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE). Baltimore, MD. "Total Maximum Daily Load of Sediment in the Upper Monocacy River Watershed, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland (Draft)." July 1, 2008.]^{[dead link]}
   "Total Maximum Daily Load of Sediment in the Lower Monocacy River Watershed, Frederick, Carroll, and Montgomery Counties, Maryland." July 22, 2008.^{[dead link]}
4. ^ MDE. "Total Maximum Daily Loads of Fecal Bacteria for the Upper Monocacy River Basin in Carroll and Frederick Counties, Maryland. August 15, 2007.
   "Total Maximum Daily Loads of Fecal Bacteria for the Lower Monocacy River Basin in Carroll, Frederick, and Montgomery Counties, Maryland." July 20, 2007.^{[dead link]}
5. ^ MDE. “Total Maximum Daily Load of Sediment in the Double Pipe Creek Watershed, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland.” August 2007.^{[dead link]}
6. ^ MDE. “Total Maximum Daily Loads of Fecal Bacteria for the Double Pipe Creek Basin in Carroll and Frederick Counties, Maryland (Draft).” June 2007.^{[dead link]}
7. ^ U.S. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). "Conservation Security Program - Monocacy Watershed." Accessed 2009-03-07.
8. ^ USDA. "Demonstration Projects – Selected Impacts" October 31, 2006.

External links

• Monocacy Scenic River Water Trail Map & Guide - Maryland DNR
• Monocacy River factsheet - Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
• Monocacy Watershed profile – US EPA
• Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance
• Monocacy Aqueduct – C&O Canal Virtual Tour
• Monocacy Basin Stream Monitoring Project
• Monocacy Battlefield – National Park Service
• Fishing the Monocacy River
• Kayaking/Canoeing the Monocacy
• Monocacy Scenic River Citizen's Advisory Board

Potomac River system Cities and towns | Bridges | Islands | Tributaries | Variant names District of Columbia | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | West Virginia Streams shown as: Major tributaries • subtributaries • (subsubtributaries) • (subsubsubtributaries)

Tidal Potomac River Gulf Branch | Donaldson Run | Maddox Branch | Windy Run | Spout Run | Foundry Branch | Rock Creek | Boundary Channel | Tiber Creek | Rocky Run | Washington Channel | Anacostia River • Pope Branch • Watts Branch • Hickey Run • Northwest Branch • (Sligo Creek) • Northeast Branch • (Paint Branch) | Four Mile Run | Oxon Creek | Hunting Creek • Cameron Run | Broad Creek | Henson Creek | Swan Creek | Piscataway Creek | Little Hunting Creek | Dogue Creek | Accotink Creek • Daniels Run | Pohick Creek | Pomonkey Creek | Occoquan River • Bull Run • Broad Run • Cedar Run | Neabsco Creek | Powells Creek | Mattawoman Creek | Chicamuxen Creek | Quantico Creek | Little Creek | Chopawamsic Creek | Tank Creek | Aquia Creek | Potomac Creek • Accokeek Creek | Nanjemoy Creek | Port Tobacco River | Popes Creek (Maryland) | Gambo Creek | Piccowaxen Creek | Upper Machodoc Creek | Cuckold Creek | Wicomico River | Monroe Creek | Mattox Creek | Popes Creek (Virginia) | St. Marys River | Yeocomico River | Coan River | Hull Creek Upper Potomac River North Branch Potomac River | South Branch Potomac River | Town Creek | Little Cacapon River • North Fork Little Cacapon River • South Fork Little Cacapon River | Fifteenmile Creek | Sideling Hill Creek | Cacapon River • Lost River • Trout Run • Capon Springs Run • Dillons Run • Edwards Run • Mill Branch • North River • (Grassy Lick Run) • (Tearcoat Creek) • (Bearwallow Creek) | Sir Johns Run | Warm Spring Run | Tonoloway Creek • Little Tonoloway Creek | Sleepy Creek • Meadow Branch | Licking Creek | Cherry Run | Back Creek • Hogue Creek • Isaacs Creek • Tilhance Creek | Little Conococheague Creek | Conococheague Creek • Back Creek | Opequon Creek • Abrams Creek • Mill Creek • Middle Creek • Tuscarora Creek (West Virginia) | Antietam Creek | Shenandoah River | Little Catoctin Creek | Catoctin Creek (Virginia) | Catoctin Creek (Maryland) | Tuscarora Creek (Maryland) | Monocacy River • Rock Creek • Marsh Creek • Alloway Creek • Toms Creek • (Middle Creek) • Double Pipe Creek • (Big Pipe Creek) • (Little Pipe Creek) • Owens Creek • Tuscarora Creek • Carroll Creek • Linganore Creek • Israel Creek • Double Pipe Creek • Bush Creek • Ballenger Creek • Bennett Creek | Little Monocacy River | Goose Creek • Little River | Broad Run (Virginia) | Sugarland Run | Broad Run (Maryland) | Seneca Creek • Dry Seneca Creek • Little Seneca Creek • Great Seneca Creek | Difficult Run | Cabin John Creek | Dead Run | Little Falls Branch | Pimmit Run | Rock Run | Watts Branch | Muddy Branch Shenandoah River North Fork Shenandoah River • Cedar Creek • Smith Creek | South Fork Shenandoah River • North River • (Middle River) • South River North Branch Potomac River Stony River | Abram Creek | Savage River | Georges Creek • Laurel Run | New Creek | Limestone Run | Warrior Run | Wills Creek • Brush Creek • Little Wills Creek | Evitts Creek | Patterson Creek • Mill Creek | Dans Run | Green Spring Run South Branch Potomac River North Fork South Branch Potomac River • Mill Creek • Seneca Creek | South Fork South Branch Potomac River • Kettle Creek | Lunice Creek | Mill Run | Mill Creek | Big Run | Buffalo Creek Lakes and reservoirs Lake Accotink | Lake Anne | Lake Artemesia | Lake Bernard Frank | Lake Braddock | Breckenridge Reservoir | Brushy Fork Lake | Burke Lake | Dalecarlia Reservoir | Georgetown Reservoir | Jennings Randolph Lake | Kingman Lake | Little Seneca Lake | McMillan Reservoir | Mount Storm Lake | Lake Needwood | Sleepy Creek Lake | Stony River Reservoir | Tidal Basin | Trout Pond | Warden Lake