Why is Ten Mile Creek Important?

Ten Mile Creek, located near Clarksburg, Maryland, is one of the healthiest waterways remaining in the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed and supports a greater diversity of aquatic life — insects, salamanders, and fish — than any other stream in Montgomery County. The creek is of such high quality that it is considered a “reference stream” which scientists use as a “measuring rod” to judge the health of other area streams.

Ten Mile Creek is also the cleanest tributary flowing into Little Seneca Reservoir, the closest emergency drinking water supply for 4.3 million people in the Washington, DC area. The watershed and reservoir is a critical natural infrastructure component of our regional drinking water system and a popular recreational resource for canoeing, kayaking, hiking, picnicking, fishing, bird watching, and other activities.

Help Us Protect this Vital Watershed

Despite its importance to our regional water system, the Ten Mile Creek watershed is constantly threatened by development proposals. The Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir, formed in August 2014, aims to protect this watershed from any further development which would degrade its health and impact the quality of water that flows into Little Seneca Reservoir.

We help citizens from around the region connect to this special place, advocate for its protection, and learn about the importance of the creek and reservoir, both as unique ecological treasures and as integral components of our regional drinking water system.

Through our advocacy and education efforts, we hope to inspire a sense of stewardship for these specific resources, and, together with other local watershed groups, to work to protect all streams and rivers in the Potomac and Chesapeake Bay watersheds.