Herring Run

For the stream in Delaware, see Herring Run (Blackbird Creek tributary).

The Herring Run is an 11.1-mile-long (17.9 km)^[1] tributary of the Back River located in Baltimore, Maryland.

Herring Run
Location
Country	United States
State	Maryland
District	Baltimore City, Baltimore County
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Carney
• coordinates	39°23′52″N 76°32′55″W
Mouth	Back River (Maryland)
• location	Rosedale
• coordinates	39°18′27″N 76°31′12″W
• elevation	0 ft (0 m)
Length	11.1 mi (17.9 km)
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Biddison Run
• right	Chinquapin Run Armistead Run

Geography

The 31-square-mile (80 km²) watershed has its headwaters in Towson, Maryland, and flows through Baltimore County and Baltimore City and back into the county before discharging into the Back River, which empties into the Chesapeake Bay. The principal tributaries of Herring Run are the Western Branch, Chinquapin Run, Tiffany Run, Armistead Run, Biddison Run, Moores Run and Redhouse Run. The total length of the Herring Run main stem and tributaries is over 41 miles (66 km).^[2]

Herring Run Park

Herring Run Park is a 375 acres (152 ha) wooded parkland in northeast Baltimore through which Herring Run flows for 2.3 miles (3.7 km).^[3] The politician William Smith lived on land now included in the park, which he purchased in 1770.^[4] The land for Herring Run Park was donated to the City of Baltimore by the real estate developer Frank Novak.^[5]

Water pollution

The Maryland Department of the Environment has listed the Herring Run as an impaired tributary, due to the elevated amounts of fecal coliform bacteria found in it.^[6] Nonetheless, efforts continue to improve the stream's water quality.^[7]

Herring Run Watershed Association

The Herring Run Watershed Association (HRWA) was founded in 1978 (originally as the Friends of Northeast Parks and Streams) and is now a fully staffed 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to stewarding the watershed.^[8] Its efforts include stream cleanups; stream plantings; rain barrel distribution; resident education; green jobs creation; advocacy, and running a native plant nursery.^[9]

In 2008, HRWA completed construction on the Herring Run Watershed Center, a state-of-the-art green building that serves as the organization's headquarters and education center. Designed by Ziger/Snead Architects and built by Baltimore Green Construction, the Watershed Center was the first LEED-NC building in Baltimore City, winning a "Gold" designation from the United States Green Building Council.^[10][11]

It merged with four other groups to form Blue Water Baltimore in 2010.

References

1. U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map Archived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed April 1, 2011
2. Herring Run Watershed Association (HRWA). Baltimore, MD. "Learn About the Watershed." Accessed 2010-05-03.
3. "Herring Run Park". Parks & Trails. Baltimore: Department of Recreation and Parks. Retrieved 16 May 2015.
4. Wood, Pamela (16 May 2015). "Archaeological dig uncovers Herring Run Park's past". Baltim. Sun. The property was first settled in 1695, but Smith was its most famous resident.
5. "The Unwisdom of Allowing City Growth to Work out Its Own Destiny". Maryland Law Review. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
6. Maryland Department of the Environment. Baltimore, MD (2007). "Total Maximum Daily Loads of Fecal Bacteria for the Herring Run Basin in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, Maryland." Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine June 2007.
7. Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management (DEPRM), Towson, MD (2010). "Tidal Back River Small Watershed Action Plan." February 2010.
8. HRWA. "Mission." Accessed 2010-05-03.
9. HRWA. "Accomplishments." Accessed 2010-05-03.
10. Novotney, Amy (2008). "Space: Water, Water Everywhere. The Herring Run Watershed Association’s new headquarters is both budget- and water-conscious." Archived 2009-06-17 at the Wayback Machine UrbaniteBaltimore.com, August 2008.
11. Kobell, Rona (2006-09-22). "Planting the seeds for a cleaner neighborhood: Watershed group spurs grass-roots effort to tidy up community and Herring Run". Baltimore Sun.