Pollution
The State of Maryland designated the Monocacy as a Maryland Scenic River in 1974. However, it has one of the greatest nonpoint source pollution problems in the state due in large part to runoff from the 3,500 farms, livestock operations and dairies in the watershed. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has listed the Monocacy with impaired water quality for sediment and fecal coliform bacteria. A major tributary basin, the Double Pipe Creek watershed, is also impaired for sediment and bacteria.
Some farmers in the Monocacy watershed participate in the national Conservation Security Program operated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), designed to help stem pollution due to erosion and pollutant runoff from farming. In the 1990s the watershed was part of a national water quality demonstration project sponsored by USDA, which helped farmers reduce fertilizer usage and reduced discharges of nitrogen and phosphorus to the river.
Read more about this topic: Monocacy River
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