Deep Run and
Patapsco River
Stream Corridor
Assessment Survey


In 1998, the Maryland Clean Water Action Plan identified the Patapsco River watershed as one of the State’s water bodies that did not meet water quality requirements. In response to this finding, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and Howard County formed a partnership to develop a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) for the Lower North Branch Patapsco River watershed in Howard County. The following Stream Corridor Assessment (SCA) survey is part of the WRAS development process.

The Patapsco River Watershed stretches over four counties and empties into the Chesapeake Bay at Baltimore City. In the central portion of its watershed, the system encompasses over 32,000 acres in Howard County. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Howard County Department of Planning and Zoning formed a partnership to complete a Stream Corridor Assessment (SCA) survey of Deep Run and part of the Patapsco Mainstem within the Lower North Branch of the watershed within Howard County. The remaining area of the Patapsco watershed in Howard County was surveyed in 2001-2002. Standing alone, the SCA survey is not a detailed scientific evaluation of the watershed. Instead, the SCA survey is designed to provide a rapid overview of the entire stream network to determine the location of potential environmental problems and to collect some basic habitat information about its streams. The value of the present survey is its help in placing individual stream problems into their watershed context, and its potential use among resource managers and land-use planners to cooperatively and consistently prioritize future restoration work.

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