Upper Monocacy River
Stream Corridor
Assessment Survey


In 1998, the Maryland Clean Water Action Plan identified the Monocacy 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 Frederick County formed a partnership to develop a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) for the Lower Monocacy River (completed June 2004) and the Upper Monocacy River watershed (begun July 2004). The following Stream Corridor Assessment (SCA) survey is part of the WRAS development process for the Upper Monocacy River.

The SCA survey provides descriptive and positional data for potential environmental problems along a watershed’s non-tidal stream network. Developed by DNR’s Watershed Services Unit, the survey is a watershed management tool to identify environmental problems and helps prioritize restoration opportunities on a watershed basis. As part of the survey, specially trained personnel walk a watershed’s streams and record data and the location for several environmental problems that can be easily observed within the stream corridor. Each potential problem site is ranked on a scale of one to five for its severity, correctability, and access for restoration work.

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