In an effort to better understand the sources of the stressors that have impacted the Bush River and its tributaries, Harford County conducted an environmental assessment of the entire Bush River Basin. The purpose of the study was to gather the necessary information to determine the past and present health of the watershed and to develop steps towards protecting and/or enhancing water quality, aquatic habitats and the aesthetic quality of the watershed.

This environmental assessment was completed with assistance from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) under the Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) program. The WRAS program provided technical assistance and grant funds to Harford County.

Data Collection and Water Quality Monitoring

The first steps in developing the management plan were to review the statistical and historical water quality data and to collect and analyze the current water quality through chemical monitoring, fish population monitoring, and macroinvertebrate or aquatic insect monitoring.

DNR reviewed and organized readily available data for the Bush River Basin in order to prepare the Watershed Characterization Report. Some of the data included in the report includes existing water quality monitoring, population, land use and land cover, forest cover, wetlands, and rare and endangered species.

In order to determine the current conditions of the stream, DNR’s Maryland Conservation Corps (MCC) conducted a stream survey for the Church Creek Subbasin, one of three subbasins within the Bush River Basin along with the Bush Creek Subbasin and the Otter Point Creek Subbasin. MCC staff walked each stream mile within Church Creek and its tributaries, identifying and photographing areas with eroding streambanks, fish barriers, inadequate riparian buffers and any unusual conditions using techniques based on DNR’s Stream Corridor Assessment Methods. Stream surveys were previously completed for the Winters Run and Ha Ha Branch Watersheds within the Otter Point Creek Subbasin and the Bynum Run Watershed within the Bush Creek Subbasin.

DNR also conducted chemical and biological monitoring and habitat assessments in order to characterize the current water quality within the basin. Water quality samples were collected during baseflow conditions at 81 locations throughout the basin and analyzed for dissolved nitrogen and dissolved phosphorus. Increased nutrients impair water quality by promoting the excessive growth of algae and can disrupted the aquatic ecosystem. Macroinvertebrates were sampled at 21 of the water quality sites and fish were sampled at 12 of the water quality sites. The presence and/or absence of aquatic insects and the fish along with the diversity of species are good indicators of stream health. The water quality data was summarized by DNR in a Synoptic Survey Report.

The results from the stream survey, water quality monitoring, and biological monitoring were used in the development of the management plan to isolate those tributaries where restoration is needed to improve water quality.

Management Plan

Harford County Water Resources used the WRAS grant funds to hire the Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) to analyze the current and historical data in order to develop an overall management plan for the Bush River Basin. The analysis determined the most sensitive and most impaired subwatersheds within the basin using the current and historical data along with current and projected impervious cover.

Impervious cover such as roads, sidewalks, driveways, parking lots, and buildings plays a significant role in the health of our streams. It decreases the amount of rainfall that infiltrates into the ground and increases the amount of rainfall that flows into the streams. Rainfall that flows over impervious cover reaches the stream much quicker than rain that falls onto trees and shrubs and flows over grass and brush. Watersheds with increased impervious cover have streams with flows that increase quickly in response to rainfall, causing significant stream bank erosion and flooding. Additionally, impervious cover collects pollutants from cars, houses, shopping malls, and factories, and delivers them to our streams.

As the amount of impervious cover within a watershed increases, the quality of the receiving stream decreases. Through comparison of impervious cover and water quality data within each subwatershed a list of subwatersheds that should be protected or restored has been produced. A summary of the recommendations, based on the subwatershed classifications shown in the map, is listed below.

Bush River Classifications

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(547KB PDF file)

Watershed-Wide

• Establish an implementation committee
• Foster the development of Bush River Watershed Association
• Create watershed stewardship website
• Implement recommendations of Site Planning Roundtable
• Establish an Adopt-A-Pond program
• Improve environmental inspections and enforcement

• Assess contiguous forest areas for preservation
• Preserve contiguous forests
• Enhance existing riparian buffers
• Preserve Grays Run contiguous forest
• Enhance Grays Run stream buffer
• Maintain Grays Run sensitive status

• Preserve farmlands
• Restore riparian buffer
• Reduce livestock access in East Bynum
• Conduct agricultural practices assessment
• Conduct septic system education

• Implement stormwater retrofits
• Investigate other stormwater retrofit opportunities
• Preserve contiguous forest in lower Winters Run and Cranberry Run
• Conduct stream clean-ups
• Conduct stream clean-ups in lower and middle Bynum Run
• Educate residents on watershed stewardship

• Implement stormwater retrofits
• Implement streambank stabilizations in Ha Ha and Otter Point Creek
• Preserve large wetland tracts
• Develop specialized plan review process