Virtually everyone in the watershed lives within a half-mile of a stream or creek that eventually flows into the Bay. Like capillaries bringing blood and nutrients to vital organs in a body, streams are the lifeblood of a watershed. Streams shape our landscape. Flowing water transforms land features, transporting and depositing soil from one place to another. Deposited onto a floodplain, these mineral-rich soils often become highly prized as farmland.
Streams are an important source of freshwater for our reservoirs and the Bay.
These rivers provide almost 90 percent of the Bay's fresh water. Many wildlife species depend on these tiny waterways. Streams provide spawning and breeding habitat for small fish and other wildlife like aquatic insects, turtles, frogs, toads and salamanders. The fields, woodlands and wetlands along a stream are also important habitat for amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. Known as riparian habitat, these areas provide food, water, shelter and shade.