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Upper Beaverdam Creek is a free-flowing tributary of Indian Creek, with their confluence approximately one-half mile upstream of the I-495 beltway. The Upper Beaverdam Creek subwatershed is roughly outlined by Muirkirk and Bowie Roads to the north, Greenbelt Road to the south, the old, abandoned Beltsville Airport to the east, and Edmonston and Powder Mill roads to the west. The subwatershed is completely in Prince George's County.

Dominant Land Uses: DThe two dominant land uses in the Upper Beaverdam Creek subwatershed are forest cover (61%) and agricultural (17%). Almost the entirety of the subwatershed is owned by The U.S. Department of Agriculture and is operated as the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC).

Physical Characteristics:The Upper Beaverdam Creek subwatershed is 9,008.0 acres (14.1 mi2) in size and approximately 11% impervious. Elevations range from 170 feet at the subwatershed divide to 65 feet at the confluence with Indian Creek. Upper Beaverdam Creek, which is contained wholly within the Coastal Plain physiographic province, has an average mainstem gradient of 0.22%.

Biological Characteristics: MDE has designated Upper Beaverdam Creek as Use I waters. From the limited data, aquatic habitat, fish and macroinvertebrate populations in the middle Upper Beaverdam Creek mainstem appear to generally be of very high quality (Cummins et al., 1991). The sampling site, located on BARC property in the middle portion of the subwatershed, is used as a reference station for Anacostia Coastal Plain streams. However, Cummins et al. (1991) note that prior sampling downstream of BARC found a macroinvertebrate population in poor condition.

Condition Summary: With most of the Upper Beaverdam Creek subwatershed managed as part of the BARC property, the land is predominantly in forest cover and agriculture. Sixty-one percent of the subwatershed is in forest cover (the highest percent area in forest cover among the Anacostia subwatersheds), and more than 85% of the stream miles have an adequate riparian forest buffer ( 300-foot total width). However, water quality monitoring has detected problems of nutrient enrichment (e.g., elevated ortho-phosphorus levels), high turbidity, and low dissolved oxygen levels. The most likely sources of these water quality problems are animal waste management and treatment practices and stormwater runoff (Herson- Jones et al., 1994); notable levels of nutrients, BOD5, and TSS also are discharged to the creek from a wastewater treatment plant operated by BARC (BARC-East). While populations of aquatic biota in the middle reaches of Upper Beaverdam Creek are healthy and diverse, these water quality problems may be the cause of the impaired communities downstream of the BARC property mentioned above. Also, casual stream surveys conducted by MWCOG staff revealed that several smaller feeder tributaries are experiencing moderate-to-severe channel erosion from uncontrolled stormwater runoff.

To get involved in protecting your Anacostia subwatershed contact theBeaverdam Creek Watershed Watch Group