Double Pipe Creek, sometimes called Pipe Creek, is a major

tributary A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainage ...

of the

Monocacy River The Monocacy River () is a free-flowing left tributary to the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data ...

in Carroll County and Frederick County in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, located several miles north and west of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

. The creek is only long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011 but is formed by the confluence of two much longer streams, Big Pipe Creek and Little Pipe Creek.

Course

The creek's watershed extends as far east as

Manchester, Maryland Manchester is a small incorporated town in northeastern Carroll County, Maryland, United States, located just south of the Pennsylvania state line and north of Baltimore. The population was 4,808 at the 2010 census. Manchester was incorporated i ...

, and includes the towns of Union Bridge,

Taneytown Taneytown ( , locally also ) is a city in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. The population was 6,728 at the 2010 census. Taneytown was founded in 1754. Of the city, George Washington once wrote, "Tan-nee town is but a small place with only ...

, New Windsor and Westminster. The main stem of the creek is formed from the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of Big Pipe Creek, long, with headwaters near Manchester; and Little Pipe Creek, long, with headwaters in Westminster. From the confluence, near

Detour, Maryland Detour is an unincorporated community in Carroll County, Maryland, United States. History A post office called Detour was established in 1905, and remained in operation until 1993. According to tradition, the indirect route of the railroad exten ...

(), Double Pipe flows west for to its mouth at the Monocacy, which drains to the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

. The watershed area of Double Pipe Creek is . Tributaries include Bear Branch, Big Pipe Creek, Little Pipe Creek, Meadow Branch and Sam's Creek. Double Pipe Creek, the portion of Little Pipe Creek west of Union Bridge, and the western section of Sam's Creek form part of the legal boundary between Frederick County and Carroll County.

Pollution

The

Maryland Department of the Environment The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) is a government agency in the state of Maryland that implements and enforces environmental protection laws and programs. The agency's stated vision is "Healthy, vibrant and sustainable communities a ...

(MDE) has identified

water quality Water quality refers to the chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of water based on the standards of its usage. It is most frequently used by reference to a set of standards against which compliance, generally achieved through tr ...

violations for Double Pipe Creek and tributaries, specifically for

sediment Sediment is a naturally occurring material that is broken down by processes of weathering and erosion, and is subsequently transported by the action of wind, water, or ice or by the force of gravity acting on the particles. For example, sand an ...

, nutrients (

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

and

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element with the symbol P and atomic number 15. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms, white phosphorus and red phosphorus, but because it is highly reactive, phosphorus is never found as a free element on Ear ...

), and

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

. The principal sources of bacteria appear to be failing

septic tank A septic tank is an underground chamber made of concrete, fiberglass, or plastic through which domestic wastewater ( sewage) flows for basic sewage treatment. Settling and anaerobic digestion processes reduce solids and organics, but the treatm ...

s from residences and/or businesses, pet waste and waste from farm animals (

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animals ...

). The pollution sources for sediment include

agricultural runoff Agricultural pollution refers to biotic and abiotic byproducts of farming practices that result in contamination or degradation of the environment and surrounding ecosystems, and/or cause injury to humans and their economic interests. The pol ...

and

urban runoff Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots and sidewalks) are constructed during land development. During rain , storms and other precipit ...

.MDE
“Total Maximum Daily Load of Sediment in the Double Pipe Creek Watershed, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland.”
September 2008. (Although agriculture is the predominant land use in the watershed, tributaries of Double Pipe Creek flow through portions of Westminster, Taneytown, New Windsor and Union Bridge.)

Proposed Union Mills Reservoir

''See

Union Mills Reservoir A proposed Union Mills Reservoir represents a half century of efforts by the Commissioners of the Carroll County, Maryland, to build variations on a " dam" or "reservoir" near Union Mills, Maryland, on the Big Pipe Creek, defeated by a petition le ...

'' Since the 1970s, Carroll County commissioners have been proposing a dam or reservoir, defeated in 1976 by petition and raised again under the title of a proposed

History

Before the battle broke out at Gettysburg, General Meade had planned a defensive position for the

Army of the Potomac The Army of the Potomac was the principal Union Army in the Eastern Theater of the American Civil War. It was created in July 1861 shortly after the First Battle of Bull Run and was disbanded in June 1865 following the surrender of the Confedera ...

at Pipe Creek, making use of its broad slopes and open fields of fire. In the

alternate history Alternate history (also alternative history, althist, AH) is a genre of speculative fiction of stories in which one or more historical events occur and are resolved differently than in real life. As conjecture based upon historical fact, altern ...

'' Gettysburg'', by Gingrich and Forstchen,

General Lee Robert Edward Lee (January 19, 1807 – October 12, 1870) was a Confederate general during the American Civil War, towards the end of which he was appointed the overall commander of the Confederate States Army. He led the Army of North ...

seizes Pipe Creek as ''his'' defensive line.

References

External links

Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance
{{authority control Rivers of Carroll County, Maryland Rivers of Frederick County, Maryland Rivers of Maryland Tributaries of the Monocacy River