Just like every river, the Monocacy River has a watershed. Tributaries The Monocacy Basin is made up of many streams forming a stream system. In a stream system, there is a natural progression in size from the smallest tributaries to the largest rivers that the smaller rivers eventually flow into. The classification system used is based on stream order.
Stream orders start with first order streams and usually go up to third order streams to more.
First-order streams are streams of origin, formed when a spring breaks through the Earth's surface. The climate of the basin is humid, temperate, and continental.