Little Falls Branch, a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data
The National Map
, accessed August 15, 2011

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 ...

stream of 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 ...

, is located in Montgomery County,

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 ...

. In the 19th century, the stream was also called Powder Mill Branch. It drains portions of Bethesda,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

Friendship Heights Friendship Heights is an urban commercial and residential neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. and southern Montgomery County, Maryland. Though its borders are not clearly defined, Friendship Heights consists roughly of the neighborhoods a ...

, and the

District of Columbia ) , 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, ...

, flows under the

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, abbreviated as the C&O Canal and occasionally called the "Grand Old Ditch," operated from 1831 until 1924 along the Potomac River between Washington, D.C. and Cumberland, Maryland. It replaced the Potomac Canal, wh ...

(C&O), and empties into the Potomac at Little Falls rapids, which marks the upper end of the

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * Tidal (album), ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * ...

Potomac.

Course

The stream rises on the grounds of the Chevy Chase Country Club and flows through

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...

to the Somerset neighborhood, where it crosses through Vinton Park and the Willard Avenue Park. After crossing under the Little Falls Parkway it joins Willett Branch and then flows through the Little Falls Stream Valley Park to Brookmont, the C&O Canal and into the Potomac River.

History

In the mid-19th century, the stream served as an interim water source for

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, ...

The

Dalecarlia Reservoir Dalecarlia Reservoir is the primary storage basin for drinking water in Washington, D.C., fed by an underground aqueduct in turn fed by low dams which divert portions of the Potomac River near Great Falls and Little Falls. The reservoir is loca ...

was built on the D.C.-Maryland border next to Little Falls Branch. A dam was built on the stream, and water was diverted into the reservoir starting in 1859. In 1864, with the completion of the

Washington Aqueduct The Washington Aqueduct is an aqueduct that provides the public water supply system serving Washington, D.C., and parts of its suburbs, using water from the Potomac River. One of the first major aqueduct projects in the United States, the Aqueduc ...

, the Potomac River became the city's principal water source. However, muddy water from Little Falls Branch continued to flow into the reservoir, and a bypass pipe was built to channel the aqueduct water to another city reservoir, the

Georgetown Reservoir The Georgetown Reservoir is a reservoir that provides water to the Washington, D.C., District of Columbia. Part of the city’s water supply and water purification, treatment infrastructure, it is located in the The Palisades, Washington, D.C., P ...

. In 1895 construction was completed to fully divert the stream from the Dalecarlia Reservoir. In the 1920s Montgomery County Government purchased the stream valley south of the confluence with Willett Branch and much of the Willett Branch stream valley south of Bradley Boulevard for the purpose of building a parkway. The Little Falls Parkway was eventually built from Glenbrook Road to Massachusetts Avenue, but plans to extend the parkway south to

MacArthur Boulevard MacArthur Boulevard may refer to: *MacArthur Boulevard (Washington, D.C.), a road that parallels the C&O Canal in Washington, D.C. and Montgomery County, Maryland *MacArthur Boulevard in Oakland, California, a major boulevard in Oakland and a histo ...

were dropped in 1970 and the southern section became Little Falls Stream Valley Park. In 1978, the National Capital Planning Commission approved the idea of a trail, which prompted neighbors to go to court with a protest. When the trail design was approved from Bradley Boulevard to Albemarle Street, the neighborhood group sued again. In 1980, after a contentious battle with neighbors in the Westmoreland Woods neighborhood, a sewer line was built through the Park and a bike trail added on top of it. The bike trail was originally planned to follow the Parkway to Bradley with a spur following Willett Branch to Hillandale Road and that road to a different point on Bradley, but the entire trail was never built. Instead the 3.5-mile Little Falls hiker-biker paved trail is on road on the Little Falls Parkway between Massachusetts and Dorset. North of Dorset it follows Willett Branch north to Hillandale and east to Norwood Drive. In Little Falls Stream Valley the trail is next to the

Capital Crescent Trail The Capital Crescent Trail (CCT) is a , shared-use rail trail that runs from Georgetown in Washington, D.C., to Bethesda, Maryland. An extension of the trail from Bethesda to Silver Spring along a route formerly known as the Georgetown Branch ...

Current conditions

Today Little Falls Branch flows through a highly

urbanized ''Urbanized'' is a documentary film directed by Gary Hustwit and released on 26 October 2011. It is considered the third of a three-part series on design known as the Design Trilogy; the first being ''Helvetica'', about the typeface, and the seco ...

area, and parts of the stream have been altered through construction of underground pipes,

culvert A culvert is a structure that channels water past an obstacle or to a subterranean waterway. Typically embedded so as to be surrounded by soil, a culvert may be made from a pipe, reinforced concrete or other material. In the United Kingdom ...

s and open

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

channels. The stream runs near the Dalecarlia drinking water treatment plant in Washington and occasionally has received overflow discharges from the plant. According to a study conducted by the county government, the

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 ...

of the stream and its tributaries is poor, due to

water pollution Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, usually as a result of human activities, so that it negatively affects its uses. Water bodies include lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers, reservoirs and groundwater. Water ...

from

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 ...

, as well as the channelization described above. The county and the Town of Somerset have installed several

stream restoration Stream restoration or river restoration, also sometimes referred to as river reclamation, is work conducted to improve the environmental health of a river or stream, in support of biodiversity, recreation, flood management and/or landscape developm ...

projects throughout the

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

Tributaries of Little Falls Branch

*Dalecarlia Tributary *Little Falls Mall Tributary *Spring Valley Tributary *Willet Branch

References

External links