Mattawoman Creek is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011 coastal-plain tributary to the tidal

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 ...

with a mouth at

Indian Head, Maryland Indian Head is a town in Charles County, Maryland, United States. The population was 3,894 at the 2020 U.S. Census. It has been the site of a naval base specializing in gun and rocket propellants since 1890. Production of nitrocellulose and smoke ...

, downstream of

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

It comprises a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

flowing through Prince George's and

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

counties and a tidal-freshwater

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environment ...

in Charles County. About three-fourths of its watershed lies in Charles County, with the remainder in Prince George's County immediately to the north.

History

Mattawoman appears on Capt. John Smith's circa-1608 map as ''Mataughquamend'', an Algonquian compound translated as “where one goes pleasantly.” Today, Mattawoman Creek is listed by the

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

(EPA) as impaired under Section 303(d) of the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

for excess nutrients, sediment, and loss of living resources. At the same time, because it is the southernmost

freshwater

in Maryland, Mattawoman has escaped much of the degradation associated with urbanization spreading from Washington, D.C. It retains noteworthy

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

Fish

Assessments of fish communities throughout the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

system by the

Maryland Department of Natural Resources The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is a government agency in the state of Maryland charged with maintaining natural resources including state parks, public lands, state forests, state waterways, wildlife, and recreation areas. It ...

find the Mattawoman estuary to be the most productive of sampled tributaries for migratory fish.J. Carmichael ''et al.'', ''Fish Sampling in Eight Chesapeake Bay Tributaries'', Maryland Dept. Nat. Res., Chesapeake Bay Research and Monitoring Div., 1992. Report CBRM-HI-92-2.
Especially abundant are

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

alewife,

blueback herring The blueback herring, blueback shad, or summer shad (''Alosa aestivalis'') is an anadromous species of herring from the east coast of North America, with a range from Nova Scotia to Florida. Blueback herring form schools and are believed to mi ...

and

American shad The American shad (''Alosa sapidissima'') is a species of anadromous clupeid fish naturally distributed on the North American coast of the North Atlantic, from Newfoundland to Florida, and as an introduced species on the North Pacific coast. The ...

and semi-anadromous

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch, American river perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samu ...

. The

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

, a resident gamefish that supports an active recreational fishery in the tidal freshwater Potomac River and its tributaries, also achieves high concentrations in the estuary. On the basis of fish assessments, Maryland fisheries biologists have concluded that

Mattawoman represents as near to ideal conditions as can be found in the northern Chesapeake Bay, perhaps unattainable in other systems, and should be protected from overdevelopment.

Marshes

The estuary supports extensive freshwater

tidal marsh A tidal marsh (also known as a type of "tidal wetland") is a marsh found along rivers, coasts and estuaries which floods and drains by the tidal movement of the adjacent estuary, sea or ocean. Tidal marshes are commonly zoned into lower marshes ( ...

es that are partially protected as Maryland Wildlands and as Natural Environment Areas.

Palustrine Palustrine wetlands include any inland wetland that contains ocean-derived salts in concentrations of less than 0.5 parts per thousand, and is non-tidal. The word ''palustrine'' comes from the Latin word ''palus'' or marsh. Wetlands within this ca ...

wetlands are concentrated in the broad stream valley of the fluvial reaches, where a site with the greatest species richness of

amphibian Amphibians are tetrapod, four-limbed and ectothermic vertebrates of the Class (biology), class Amphibia. All living amphibians belong to the group Lissamphibia. They inhabit a wide variety of habitats, with most species living within terres ...

s and

reptile Reptiles, as most commonly defined are the animals in the class Reptilia ( ), a paraphyletic grouping comprising all sauropsids except birds. Living reptiles comprise turtles, crocodilians, squamates (lizards and snakes) and rhynchocephalians ( ...

s in Maryland has been identified by the Department of Natural Resources.

Watershed

Mattawoman drains the town of Indian Head, the town of Bryans Road, and most of Waldorf, the largest community in Charles County. Its watershed remains over 50% forested, but it is approaching a 10% impervious cover,''Mattawoman Creek Watershed Management Plan,'' U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District.
/ref> often cited as a threshold for significant degradation as measured by water quality and species diversity. Continued loss of forest and increases in impervious cover are anticipated, as most of the watershed in Charles County falls within a designated development district, which at about Charles County Government: Planning and Growth Management
/ref> (214 km²) is larger than Washington D.C. (61 square miles; 158 km²). With respect to projected growth, the Mattawoman Creek Watershed Management Plan authored by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

notes that

ese intense development practices would have severe repercussions on the biological community and would decrease the habitat quality within the estuary.

Natural resources

The quality of Mattawoman’s living resources are acknowledged by Charles County government, Charles County Government: Mattawoman Creek
/ref> while the juxtaposition of high quality and high vulnerability to development are recognized by state and federal agencies. For example, the Mattawoman Creek Watershed Management Plan states:

The Mattawoman Creek represents an important natural resource, with a diverse network of forests, tributaries, and wetlands, providing tremendous fish and wildlife habitat. The ecological integrity of the Mattawoman is at risk from current and future development pressures within the watershed.

The juxtaposition of value and vulnerability has caused the creek and its watershed to become a focal point for regional and local conservation organizations that work to restore the Chesapeake Bay in the face of growing urbanization, which studies find contribute to the decline of the Bay.

Highway crossing proposals

Proposals for two four-lane highways that would cross the fluvial stream, and the expected attendant development, generated debate. The first, the Western Waldorf Bypass, is one of three alternatives being considered by state and federal agencies for the U.S. 301 Waldorf-Area Transportation Improvements Project. This highway would have divided lengthwise about one-half of the Mattawoman watershed. The second, for which controversial

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

permit applications were submitted, was a proposed extension of Charles County’s Cross County Connector, which would have crossed the width of the watershed. In 2012 the Army Corps of Engineers denied the wetlands permit application, ending the proposal.

Variant names

According to the

Geographic Names Information System The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...

, Mattawoman Creek has also been known by the following names. *Mataughquamend *Matawoman Creeke *Matawomen Creeke *Mattawomans Creek *Mattawomen Creek *Pangayo *Saint Thomas Creeke *Zachia Swamp

References

External links

Mattawoman Creek WatershedStream dataUSGS 01658000 Mattawoman Creek Near Pomonkey, MD
{{authority control Rivers of Maryland Rivers of Charles County, Maryland Rivers of Prince George's County, Maryland Tributaries of the Potomac River