Little Monocacy Watershed

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The Little Monocacy, Furnace Branch and Monocacy River Watersheds

These tributaries of the Potomac River are located in the far western area of the County and consist of primarily agricultural and wooded areas. Furnace Branch is a tributary of the Monocacy, flowing into this large stream within Frederick County. The Little Monocacy River is located almost entirely within Montgomery County and does not flow into the Monocacy River as the name suggests (and many people believe!). The Little Monocacy enters the Potomac River just downstream of where the Monocacy River joins the Potomac River in Frederick County.

The headwaters of the Little Monocacy watershed begin in the rural countryside along Comus Road southwest of the town of Comus. This watershed is one of the most scenic rural watersheds in Montgomery County. Numerous farms maintain the rural nature of this watershed for the full length of the stream system as many of the County's farms are located in this area. The small towns of Barnesville, Sellman, and Dickerson, all located in this watershed, represent the only concentrated areas of imperviousness in the Little Monocacy. Portions of the Little Monocacy drain Sugarloaf Mountain in Frederick County, with many of the headwater tributaries well forested.

By the time the Little Monocacy passes under Route 28 near the town of Dickerson, it has grown into a wide, rapidly flowing cool water stream. Deep pools and high velocity riffles help to maintain a diverse cool water fish community here. Nineteen fish species were found here in 1996! Two species of darters were found, greenside darter and fantail darter. Rock bass and bluegills were found in the pools and Silverjaw minnows swam along sandy bottom runs. Large central stonerollers and longnose dace were found in water flowing so fast that the monitoring crew had trouble remaining standing. Baseline monitoring of this watershed will occur in the year 2000. DEP staff also explored the watershed in the Spring of 1997 in order to look for least-impaired stream reaches to add to the reference stream inventory.

Little Monocacy, Furnace Branch and Monocacy River Stream Condition, Habitat Conditions, and Management Category Designation

Subwatershed/

Stream Condition
Habitat Conditions
Primary Factors Affecting Stream Condition
Unique Characteristics and Management Category

DEP baseline monitoring will occur in 2000. This assessment is based on a reconnaissance station.

Little Monocacy River - GOOD

(preliminary)
GOOD - (preliminary)
The fish community in this watershed is diverse. Overall biological community and habitat indicated good conditions

Agricultural Watershed Management Area

Furnace Branch - GOOD (preliminary)
GOOD - (preliminary)
High % of forest cover. Headwaters are in good to excellent condition.

Agricultural Watershed Management Area

Monocacy River tributaries
No current data

Agricultural Watershed Management Area

Little Monocacy, Furnace Branch and Monocacy River Watershed

Management Categories

Management of these stream systems occurs almost exclusively through voluntary actions among agricultural and large lot land owners.

Agricultural Watershed Management Areas

These watersheds are all located in the agricultural preserve area of the County and are several of our most scenic agricultural watersheds.

Watershed Management Strategy

Continue current practices.
Use of agricultural BMPs and the application of environmental guidelines and regulations for limited areas that develop.
Acquire additional information on the stream conditions in these areas through baseline monitoring in 2000.

Maps

Land Cover
Impervious Area
Stream Condition
Management Categories

Land Cover Graph

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