Bush River Basin
The Bush River Basin or watershed is centrally located within Harford County. It is one of four basins located in Harford County along with the Gunpowder River Basin, the Lower Susquehanna River Basin, and the Upper Western Shore Basin. Approximately 30% of the land within the County, or 113 square miles, drains to the Bush River Basin. An additional 12 square miles drains to the watershed from Aberdeen Proving Grounds, a federally owned army installation. Aberdeen Proving Grounds, or APG, borders Harford County to the south and separates the County from the shores of the Chesapeake Bay. Approximately 6 of the 9 miles of the Bush River are bordered by APG.
Over 30% of the land within APG, or 15,000 acres, is wetlands. Based on aerial photography, the amount of wetlands has increased over 4,000 acres and the amount of forest cover has increased over 5,000 acres since the early 1930’s. Aberdeen Proving Grounds is one of the largest breeding grounds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed for great blue herons and bald eagles. When APG began surveying the number of eagles on the installation in the early 1980’s, there were 6. At last count there are over 200 eagles. In addition to the herons and bald eagles, APG is home to the largest number of grassland nesting birds and forest interior dwelling birds in the region.
The headwaters of the tributaries to the Bush River reach as far north as Jarrettsville, Forest Hill and Churchville, as far east as Aberdeen, as far west as Fallston and Joppa and as far south as APG. Maryland Route 24, constructed in the early 1990’s divides the Bush River Basin approximately in half east to west. A large amount of both residential and commercial development has occurred around this corridor. Approximately half of the City of Aberdeen and the entire incorporated limits of the Town of Bel Air are located within the Bush River Basin.
The first county seat, Old Baltimore, was located between Bush River and Romney Creek on a site which is now part of APG. In 1773, Harford County was divided from Baltimore County and a new county seat was established at the head of Bush River, at the current intersection of Route 136 and Route 7. It was called Harford Town, or Bush. Many notable historical figures, such as Washington, Madison, and Jefferson, passed through and stopped at Bush on their way to Philadelphia and New York. Bush remained the county seat until 1782, at which time the current county seat, Bel Air (formerly Scotts Old Fields) was established.
The Bush River Basin is divided into three subbasins – the Bush Creek Subbasin, the Church Creek Subbasin and the Otter Point Creek Subbasin. The tributaries entering the Bush River from east to west are Otter Point Creek which joins the Bush River ¾ mile north of the Amtrak railroad bridge, Bush Creek which joins the Bush River ½ mile south of Maryland Route 40 and east of Long Bar Harbor Road, and Church Creek which joins the Bush River 1 mile south of Maryland Route 40 and west of Mitchell Lane.
Over the past 30 years, the greatest amount of development within Harford County has occurred in the Bush River Basin. Approximately 50% of the population (the 2000 Census for Harford County was 226,565) in Harford County resides within the Bush Creek and Otter Point Creek Subbasins. The placement of development within this geographic area hasn’t been by chance. A “development envelope” was established in 1977 to direct development to occur in areas served, or planned to be served, by public water and sewer. Areas served by public sewer and water can accommodate a large portion of the County’s population in medium and high density residential development. Services, such as police and fire departments, libraries, and schools, can also be concentrated within the development envelope to serve the greatest number of people in the most efficient and cost-effective manner.
Drinking Water and Waste Water
Many of the County’s residents depend on the tributaries of the Bush River for their source of drinking water. The Town of Bel Air and surrounding areas use water withdrawn from Winters Run for their source of drinking water. Areas farther outside the Town of Bel Air on public water and sewer are supplied their drinking water from Harford County. The County drinking water is a mixture of water from several sources including water withdrawn from wells located in the Church Creek and Deep Spring Branch Subbasins. Also many of the residents within the Bush River Basin depend on groundwater for their source of drinking water through private wells.
Likewise, the destination of our waste water has an impact on the Bush River either through individual private septic systems or through public waste water treatment. The Sod Run Waste Water Treatment Plant is located just upstream of the confluence of Sod Run and the Bush River. The plant currently treats 12 million gallons of waste water per day from the public sanitary sewer system and about 40 thousand gallons of waste water that is delivered via truck from septic systems. In addition, the Sod Run facility treats specialized liquid wastes, landfill leachate and other County water and wastewater plant sludges and solids. The waste water treatment plant was constructed in 1969 and significantly upgraded in 2000. The upgrade completed in 2000 included the Biological Nutrient Removal, or BNR, process that significantly reduces nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations using biological methods.
Environmental Protection
By concentrating the majority of development within the development envelope, outlying areas may be preserved in a rural state to maintain the viability of agriculture in the County, as well as conserve other natural resources. Although development is concentrated within the development envelope, protection of environmental quality within the envelope is still of utmost importance to Harford County. The quality of life of all citizens is impacted by the quality of the environment in which we live. Harford County protects its environmental resources (both inside and outside the development envelope) through a number of regulations and programs.
The Natural Resource District regulations protect nontidal wetlands, streams, steep slopes, and floodplains and provide a natural buffer to streams. The Chesapeake Bay Critical Area Program protects sensitive resources along our shoreline. Floodplain regulations preserve areas along streams for the natural flow of flood waters, while protecting human life and property by regulating development in the floodplain. Stormwater and sediment and erosion control regulations also serve to protect the environment whenever and wherever development occurs.
50% of the Bush River Basin is within the development envelope. While directing growth within specific geographic areas preserves areas outside of the development envelope and provides cost effective services to the greatest number of residents, the environmental impacts of intensive growth and high percentages of impervious cover have largely been overlooked in spite of increased environmental regulations.
In 2003, Harford County Water Resources completed the Bush River Management Plan to address water quality issues within the basin through restoration and preservation.
|
