USA Papers included in Watershed 96 proceedings reflect the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily represent official positions of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Watershed drains Maryland's most heavily urbanized and industrialized area.
The Watershed spans 685 square miles across four counties and encompasses the entire City of Baltimore. The sediment, water quality, and ecological conditions in the watershed reflect the intense urbanization and intrusive land uses of the past 250 years and exhibit some of the most degraded conditions in Maryland waters and Chesapeake Bay tributaries. Although hundreds of studies have been conducted by federal, state, regional, and local agencies for the purposes of resource and watershed management and water supply, no attempt had been to compile, assess and compare the results. In addition, the project was conducted to support ongoing efforts within the Chesapeake Bay Program to quantify and address nutrient and toxic pollutant issues in this Watershed. Previous studies of ambient conditions indicated elevated nutrient levels resulted in algal blooms occur in both the Back and Patapsco Rivers.