Magothy River
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Magothy River runs through Anne Arundel County in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is located south of the Patapsco River, and north of the Severn River. The Little Magothy River is considered part of the Magothy watershed, even though the mouth of the Little Magothy is outside the mouth of the Magothy.
It is a relatively small, mostly tidal river with a watershed area (including the water surface) of 44 square miles (110 km²), or 35 square miles (91 km²) of land. Thus, its total watershed area is 20% water. It starts in Anne Arundel County in Severna Park, and flows into Chesapeake Bay next to Gibson Island. It is probably best known among recreational boaters for the popular anchorage behind Dobbins Island. Its navigable tidal portion is crossed by one bridge, located on Magothy Bridge Road in Pasadena. Its upper, nontidal portion is called Magothy Branch, and is dammed at MD 648 (Baltimore-Annapolis Boulevard) to form Lake Waterford (there was an old mill dam at the same site). Some of the creeks on its south shore drain highly developed portions of Severna Park and Arnold, especially North Cypress Creek, which drains much of the Park Plaza and Giant shopping centers along Ritchie Highway north of McKinsey Road.
The Baltimore Light Station sits at the mouth of the river.
The aquatic health of the Magothy River has been declining in recent years. In 2007 the river was given a health rating of 42%, down from 65% in 2004. [1] The river's overall health score was determined by three contributing factors: underwater grasses, water clarity, and dissolved oxygen. The Magothy scored below par in all three of these categories, the worst of which being the underwater grasses. The Magothy had 83 acres of underwater grass mapped in 2007, achieving only 14% of the goal of 579 acres (2.34 km²). The water clarity status in 2007 was slightly better, with 44% of measurements exceeding the 0.97 meter depth which allows underwater grasses enough sunlight to grow. The Magothy scored the best in 2007 for dissolved oxygen; 69% of measurements exceeded its goal of 5 milligrams per liter. [2]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Profile: Magothy River
- Marianne Taylor, My River Speaks: The History and Lore of the Magothy River (Arnold, MD: Bay Media, 1998) ISBN 0-9665239-0-3
- MAGOTHY RIVER WATERSHED RESTORATION STRATEGY, Anne Arundel County
Office of Environmental & Cultural Resources, July, 2005.
[edit] Further reading
- Maryland DNR's Surf Your Watershed: Magothy River
- Magothy River Association and Magothy River Land Trust: Two web sites of Magothy River watershed associations
- Magothy River map: Map to download, made in 2004, shows names of most creeks and other water bodies
|
|||||||||||||||||
