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The confluence of Indian Creek with Paint Branch forms the Northeast Branch of the Anacostia River; these two free-flowing primary tributaries of the Northeast Branch join just south of College Park, near Calvert Road. The Indian Creek subwatershed is generally outlined by Van Dusen Road to the north, Edmonston and Powder Mill roads to the east, and Old Gunpowder Road and Baltimore Avenue to the west. The Indian Creek subwatershed is located completely within Prince George's County.

Dominant Land Uses: Dominant land uses in the Indian Creek subwatershed include forest cover (31%), residential (26%), extractive (sand and gravel mining, 12%), agricultural (11%), and industrial (9%).

Physical Characteristics:The Indian Creek subwatershed is 9,932.8 acres (15.5 mi2) in size and approximately 20% impervious. Elevations range from 370 feet at the subwatershed divide to 35 feet at the confluence with Paint Branch. Indian Creek, which is contained wholly within the Coastal Plain physiographic province, has an average mainstem gradient of 0.52%.

Biological Characteristics: MDE has designated Indian Creek as Use I waters. Both fish and macroinvertebrate populations in Indian Creek have been found to be nonimpaired or slightly impaired relative to reference conditions, ranking 90% and 67%, respectively (Cummins et al., 1991). Coupled with aquatic habitat conditions at the sampling location that are, at best, partially supporting, the authors note the possibility of a nutrient enrichment problem. This assertion is supported by water quality monitoring which has detected consistently elevated levels of ortho- phosphorus in Indian Creek (Herson-Jones et al., 1994).

Condition Summary: The upper portion of the Indian Creek subwatershed, located upstream of Virginia Manor-Ammendale Road, is dominated by abandoned and active sand and gravel mining operations and forest cover; much of the forest cover is classified as shrub/scrub regenerating. Thirty-one percent of the total subwatershed area is in forest cover, and 47% of the stream miles retain an adequate forest buffer ( 300-foot total width; see Section 2.1). The remainder of the subwatershed is largely developed, featuring light industrial, residential, and commercial land uses. In the lower portion of the subwatershed, long reaches of the stream have been channelized, with poor parkland buffering due to existing park management operations. Dominant water quality problems include elevated levels of both ortho-phosphorus (noted above as influencing biological conditions) and total suspended solids. In addition to residential development, possible nutrient sources include local nursery operations, the Beltsville Industrial Park, a small portion of the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, and mining operations. Abandoned and active mining operations are the most likely source of elevated levels of TSS (Herson-Jones et al., 1994). These TSS problems are likely aggravated by all-terrain vehicle and motorcycle use in the upper portion of the subwatershed.

To get involved in protecting your Anacostia subwatershed contact the Citizens to Conserve and Restore Indian Creek.