North Branch Potomac River

The North Branch Potomac River flows from Fairfax Stone in West Virginia to its confluence with the South Branch Potomac River near Green Spring, West Virginia, where it turns into the Potomac River proper.

North Branch Potomac River Tributary to Potomac River
The North Branch between Cumberland, Maryland, and Ridgeley, West Virginia in 2007
Location of mouth
Location
Country	United States
State	West Virginia, Maryland
County	Allegany (MD), Garrett (MD), Hampshire (WV), Mineral (WV), Grant (WV), Preston (WV)
Cities (WV)	Bayard, Gormania, Piedmont, Keyser
Cities (MD)	Kitzmiller, Luke, Westernport, Cumberland
Physical characteristics
Source	Blackwater River divide
• location	about 1 mile northwest of Fairfax, West Virginia
• coordinates	39°11′42.39″N 079°29′21.19″W[1]
• elevation	2,960 ft (900 m)[1]
Mouth	Potomac River
• location	about 1 mile east of Green Spring, West Virginia
• coordinates	39°31′42.33″N 078°35′15.05″W[1]
• elevation	525 ft (160 m)[1]
Length	101.27 mi (162.98 km)[2]
Basin size	1,343.04 square miles (3,478.5 km2)[3]
Discharge
• location	Potomac River
• average	5.13 cu ft/s (0.145 m3/s) at mouth with Potomac River[3]
Basin features
Progression	Potomac River → Chesapeake Bay → Atlantic Ocean
River system	Potomac River
Tributaries
• left	Laurel Run, Sand Run, Nyedegger Run, Glade Run, Steyer Run, Laurel Run, Crooked Run, Lostland Run, Short Run, Three Forks Run, Stony Hollow, Elklick Run, Folly Run, Laurel Run, Savage River, Georges Creek, Stony Run, Wildcat Hollow, Culvert Hollow, Dry Run, Deep Hollow, Warrior Run, Wills Creek, Collier Run, Mill Run, Seven Springs Run
• right	Red Oak Creek, Buffalo Creek, Difficult Creek, Stony River, Maple Run, Abram Creek, Deep Run, Howell Run, Piney Swamp Run, Montgomery Run, Slaughterhouse Run, Powder House Run, Thunderhill Run, New Creek, Willow Run, Ashcabin Run, Koulip Hollow, Buckwheat Hollow, Patterson Creek, Dans Run, Round Bottom Hollow, Kern Hollow, Green Spring Run
Waterbodies	Bloomington Lake
Bridges	West Kempton Road (x2), Corona Bayard Road, Kitzmiller Road, Masteller Road, WV 46, US 220, Black Oak Road, WV 956, WV 28 Alt, Canal Parkway, Green Spring Road

Course

From the Fairfax Stone, the North Branch Potomac River flows 27 miles (43 km) to the man-made Jennings Randolph Lake, an impoundment designed for flood control and emergency water supply. Below the dam, the North Branch cuts a serpentine path through the eastern Allegheny Mountains. First, it flows northeast by the communities of Bloomington, Luke, and Westernport in Maryland and then on by Keyser, West Virginia to Cumberland, Maryland. At Cumberland, the river turns southeast. 103 miles (166 km) downstream from its source, the North Branch is joined by the South Branch between Green Spring and South Branch Depot, West Virginia from whence it flows past Hancock, Maryland and turns southeast once more on its way toward Washington, D.C., and the Chesapeake Bay.

Water quality

Historically, the North Branch had highly acidic water due to waste from coal mining and paper production in the region.^[4] In 1969, one measuring station recorded a pH of 2.3, comparable to lemon juice.^[5]: 3 This regularly killed wildlife across a 60–80 km (40–50 mi) span. It was somewhat mitigated by the construction of the Bloomington Dam, which allowed for flow control based on density.^[4] The dam was constructed in 1981; by 1987, the pH had returned to the neutral range in some areas, but dissolved aluminum and manganese concentrations were still at toxic levels, which continued to impede full wildlife recovery.^[6] In 1990, Maryland installed lime dosers, devices which dispense alkaline lime into the river, to further mitigate acidity in problem spots.^[7] This was successful, and today fish can survive in the river again.^[5]: 7

Tributaries

• Stony River (West Virginia)
• Abram Creek (West Virginia)
• Savage River (Maryland)
• Georges Creek (Maryland)
  • Laurel Run (Maryland)
• New Creek (West Virginia)
• Limestone Run (West Virginia)
• Warrior Run (Maryland)
• Wills Creek (Pennsylvania/Maryland)
  • Brush Creek (Pennsylvania)
  • Little Wills Creek (Pennsylvania)
• Evitts Creek (Maryland and Pennsylvania)
• Patterson Creek (West Virginia)
  • Mill Creek (West Virginia)
• Dans Run (West Virginia)
• Green Spring Run (West Virginia)

References

1. "Geographic Names Information System". edits.nationalmap.gov. US Geological Survey. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
2. "ArcGIS Web Application". epa.maps.arcgis.com. US EPA. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
3. "North Branch Potomac River Watershed Report". watersgeo.epa.gov. US EPA. Retrieved 7 November 2022.
4. Sheer, Daniel P.; Harris, Daniel C. (1982). "Acidity Control in the North Branch Potomac". Journal (Water Pollution Control Federation). 54 (11): 1441–1446. ISSN 0043-1303. JSTOR 25041735.
5. Hansen, Evan; Collins, Alan; Zegre, Sera; Hereford, Anne (December 1, 2010). The Benefits of Acid Mine Drainage Remediation on the North Branch Potomac River (PDF) (Report). Downstream Strategies.
6. Diamond, Jerome M.; Bower, William; Gruber, David (March 1993). "Use of man-made impoundment in mitigating acid mine drainage in the North Branch Potomac River". Environmental Management. 17 (2): 225–238. doi:10.1007/BF02394692. ISSN 1432-1009.
7. Tasker, Greg (November 14, 1993). "Dose of lime may revive dead river; State to neutralize acid mine leaks". The Baltimore Sun.