At a Glance
The Upper Patuxent watershed has a diverse assemblage of streams that interface with numerous human activities. The watershed assessment identified these streams and activities in an effort to better understand and improve the health of the region.
Project Description
Biohabitats, along with the prime contractor, Limnotech, Inc., was contracted to perform an assessment of 171 miles of perennial streams within the Upper Patuxent River watershed. The Upper Patuxent River watershed includes 19 subwatersheds. It is primarily agricultural in nature, with some areas of residential, commercial and forested land. Portions of the watershed lie within the Patuxent National Wildlife Refuge.
The effort consisted of mapping perennial streams, breaking the streams down into reaches and performing habitat assessment on each reach, all while identifying other significant stream characteristics. Biohabitats was tasked with identifying parameters such as debris jams, head cuts, dumpsites, culverts and utility crossings. The data was collected using hand-held GPS devices for entry into a database created by Anne Arundel County. The data is being used by the County to identify capital improvement projects and to provide an overall view of the condition of individual subwatersheds.