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| The Potomac River Basin is the second largest contributor of fresh water to the Chesapeake Bay. Nearly five million people live in the Potomac River Basin, with 3.5 million of them in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Often called the “nation’s river,” the Potomac River flows through the nation’s capitol, touching the lives of millions of Americans and foreign visitors each year. It drains an area of nine million acres in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia and provides the drinking water for over 4 million residents.
People and their activities have challenged the river – from acid mine deposition in its headwaters, intensive crop and animal agriculture in the middle tributaries, and growth and development away from the eleven major cities in the basin. Each has brought change and impacts. Aquatic life is inhibited in areas affected by mining drainage and agriculture. Agriculture has degraded habitat in riparian areas and reduced water quality from high nutrient and sediment loading. Development creates sedimentation, flooding and impairment of local streams.
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