Middle River Watershed

	The Middle River watershed lies along the eastern waterfront of Baltimore County.
	The Middle River waterfront is one of Baltimore County's citizens favorite waterfront destinations.

The Middle River watershed covers a 12 square-mile area in urban and suburban portions of southeastern Baltimore County and includes the Lockheed Martin Aviation complex, one of the largest facilities on the East Coast.  Middle River is a wide, shallow tidal estuary that extends southeastward approximately four miles from Eastern Boulevard in Baltimore County before entering the Chesapeake Bay. This watershed has only nine miles of stream channels and is mostly recognized for its tidal waterways including Hopkins Creek, Norman Creek, Frog Mortar Creek, Galloway Creek, and Sue Creek.

The watershed consists primarily of older residential development intermixed with commercial and industrial areas. Large forested tracts of land remain interspersed throughout the entire watershed and relatively rural lands occupy many locations in the lower portions of the watershed surrounding the mouth of the River. The major communities in this watershed include Middle River, Essex and Bowleys Quarters. The Middle River area has been designated as one of nine “renaissance areas” under the Baltimore County Renaissance Redevelopment Pilot Program that targets underused or neglected parcels of land in older communities for high-quality re-development.

This watershed is the County’s single largest destination for recreational boaters and is home to numerous marinas and waterfront restaurants. In addition, there are a multitude of public access points at one of the many County waterfront parks including Wilson Point Park, Hawthorne Park, Turkey Point Park, and Sue Creek Park.

Baltimore County has completed numerous dredging and water quality improvement projects in this watershed, including a stream restoration and water quality retrofit project at the Fields of Renaissance Park.

Watershed Management Plan

The Middle River Watershed Management Plan was completed in March 2001.  The plan includes a model of stormwater runoff pollution from the watershed as well as a model of the estuary focusing on flushing rates, nutrients and metal contamination.  Management measures for the upland sources and water dependent facilities, such as marinas, are also included.  The executive summary (PDF) is available for download from this web site.

 Volunteer Activities

To participate in volunteer activities contact a local watershed association.

Watershed Profile

General Characteristics

Land Cover Characteristics

Zoning Classifications

Contact Information
Watershed Management Program
Phone: 410-887-5683
Fax: 410-887-3510
E-Mail: watersheds@baltimorecountymd.gov

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Revised November 2, 2007