Rocky Gorge Reservoir is located on the Patuxent River in

Howard Howard is an English-language given name originating from Old French Huard (or Houard) from a Germanic source similar to Old High German ''*Hugihard'' "heart-brave", or ''*Hoh-ward'', literally "high defender; chief guardian". It is also probabl ...

, Montgomery, and Prince George's counties 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 ...

, between

Laurel Laurel may refer to: Plants * Lauraceae, the laurel family * Laurel (plant), including a list of trees and plants known as laurel People * Laurel (given name), people with the given name * Laurel (surname), people with the surname * Laurel (mus ...

and Burtonsville. The

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

was created in 1952 by the construction of the T. Howard Duckett Dam on the Patuxent. The dam is visible from

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

near milemarker 34. Because of its close association with a dam by the name, the reservoir is sometimes called the T. Howard Duckett Reservoir. It has a surface area of . The reservoir is maintained as a

drinking water Drinking water is water that is used in drink or food preparation; potable water is water that is safe to be used as drinking water. The amount of drinking water required to maintain good health varies, and depends on physical activity level, a ...

source by the

Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission (WSSC Water) is a bi-county political subdivision of the State of Maryland that provides safe drinking water and wastewater treatment for Montgomery and Prince George's Counties in Maryland except ...

(WSSC). WSSC provides recreational facilities to the public on portions of the Rocky Gorge property, including hiking, picnicking, fishing, boating, horseback riding, and hunting. Local fish species include

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

and

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 ...

Namesake

T. Howard Duckett drafted the law officially establishing the WSSC as a permanent bicounty agency.Brigham, Arthur.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission
. ''The Montgomery County Story''. Montgomery County Historical Society. 21. 3. August 1978. Following lobbying by

E. Brooke Lee Edward Brooke Lee (October 23, 1892 – September 21, 1984) was a Maryland politician and a veteran of World War I. Early years Edward Brooke Lee was born on October 23, 1892, at the Blair-Lee House in Washington, D.C. His parents were Franci ...

, the law was passed, effective May 1, 1918. Duckett was named one of the three first official commissioners.

References

External links

*
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commissiontopo map
Burtonsville, Maryland Chesapeake Bay watershed Laurel, Maryland Reservoirs in Maryland Lakes of Howard County, Maryland Lakes of Montgomery County, Maryland Bodies of water of Prince George's County, Maryland 1952 establishments in Maryland {{PrinceGeorgesCountyMD-geo-stub

Namesake

See also

References

External links