President's Message & Recap of 2025 Highlights

As we review FOTMC’s work and activities over the last couple of years, we are reminded of why our mission to serve as guardians of Ten Mile Creek and its watershed began. We remember the urgent need to protect what has been called “the last best stream” in Montgomery County by protecting the forests, tributaries, and wetlands of the Ten Mile Creek watershed. Ten Mile Creek is the 2nd largest, and the cleanest, tributary flowing into Little Seneca Reservoir, the back-up drinking supply for 5 million people in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area.

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Little Seneca Lake Reservoir

The mission of Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir is to serve as guardians of Ten Mile Creek and its watershed, preserving and protecting this unique place and ensuring that Ten Mile Creek continues to provide clean drinking water to Little Seneca Reservoir – a backup drinking water supply for the Washington, DC Metropolitan region and an important recreational resource. Ten Mile Creek is the cleanest of three main streams – Little Seneca Creek, Ten Mile Creek,  Cabin Branch – that feed into the Reservoir.

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Watershed/Wildflower Walks

FOTMC has been leading annual Spring Watershed/Wildflower walks to introduce people to the unique flora of the Ten Mile Creek Watershed and to enjoy the beauty of the surrounding forest and streams. On beautiful spring Day in April, a group of 20 intrepid explorers gathered at the Cinque’s, where Jay ferried our group on the tractor-pulled hay wagon to our starting point, across the Ten Mile Creek Ford, to where our exploration of the Watershed and Wildflowers began. This Spring outing was special because it took place on the 50-acre tract of land that Norman Mease gifted to our organization.

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Monitoring Water Quality

Since 1997, volunteers with Nature Forward have been monitoring two sites on Ten Mile Creek four times a year to assess the health of the creek. One site is on the “mainstem” of the creek just upstream of the ford on West Old Baltimore Road, and the other site is on the tributary that runs alongside West Old Baltimore Road.

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Eyes of the Creek

FOTMC members are always working to keep the Ten Mile Creek area trash-free. As a participant in the  “adopt-a-road” program, we regularly haul away trash dumped along West Old Baltimore Road, and our hardworking volunteers also remove a lot of trash from the Creek at the stream ford… 

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Action Alert: Speak up for the forests, streams, and clean drinking water of the Little Seneca Reservoir at the hearing on the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan, September 25, 2025

Since 2023, FOTMC members have been actively participating in the formulation of the Clarksburg Gateway Sector Plan. Our goal has been the preservation of forests, protection of streams and wetlands, and safeguarding the water quality of Little Seneca Lake Reservoir, the region’s back-up drinking water supply.

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Watershed/Wildflower Walk rescheduled to Saturday April 19, 2025 due to rain

John Parrish and rg Steinman will be leading the The Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir (FOTMC) annual Watershed/Wildflower walk from 10:00 to 2:00 on Saturday, April 19th. We are calling this a Watershed/Wildflower Walk because FOTMC is a watershed group, with wildflowers as one component of the watershed. We will meet at the Cinque Farm, 22300 Slidell Rd, at 10:00 am and depart, by hay wagon, at 10:15 to cross the ford, where our walk begins….

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Announcements: Poolesville Day & Annual Membership Meeting

Poolesville Day is just around the corner, September 21, from 10:00 - 4:00. Poolesville Day is a one-day, family-friendly FREE event in the agricultural reserve. Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir will have a booth with members available to describe who we are and what we do and brochures with more details. 

If you have never attended Poolesville Day, there is an excellent description, with photos and map, online. 

For more details, visit the official website, https://www.poolesvilleday.com/

Save the date:
The Friends of Ten Mile Creek and Little Seneca Reservoir will hold their Annual Meeting on October 19 at 1 pm @ the Cinque Farm. It will be a PotLuck. All are welcome! More to come.

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Creek Watch

As earth moving begins on Pulte's Creekside at Cabin Branch development the stream is likely to become cloudy after rainstorms and sediment will be most visible to the public at the stream ford. FoTMC members have also noticed more instances of illegal dumping at the ford and along West Old Baltimore Road. Read more for links to report any violations you might witness.

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