Tributary Tuesday: Minebank Run (Towson, Maryland)

Fifteen years ago, heavy volumes of stormwater runoff from roads, rooftops, and parking lots, carved Minebank Run into a channelized ditch. The Gunpowder River tributary is located just south of the Loch Raven Reservoir near Towson, Maryland (North of Baltimore). An area that has been settled since the early 1700s, the stream's 2,135-acre watershed was once primarily agricultural land. Iron ore mining in the watershed gave the stream its name, with at least four mines along the stream's banks.

(Image courtesy Greg Wassman/Flickr)

As Baltimore became a central port and industrial center, Minebank Run flowed through residential areas, corporate buildings and the Baltimore beltway; fast-paced development increased stormwater runoff flows, which rendered it "highly impaired."

In the 1990s, Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management (DEPRM) chose to restore the stream, an effort that included the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Institute of Ecosystem Studies, and the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science.

The 3,000 trees and 6,000 shrubs planted during the 1999-2005 project absorb stormwater instead of allowing it to run off; a reshaped stream slows the runoff to avoid erosion and channelization. This has prevented up to 50,000 pounds of sediment from entering the tributary, and reduced nitrogen in the water by 50 percent.

Today, Minebank Run is a meandering stream that flows from the Lower Gunpowder River, which unlike the Upper Gunpowder, is highly urbanized. However, the various parks along the river and its tributaries give a different impression.

More from Minebank Run:

• See Minebank Run and other waterways from the hiking trails at Cromwell Valley Park. Visit the park's Willow Grove Nature Education Center for programs and activities, and if you live in the area, join the park's habitat restoration team.

• Visit Maryland's largest state park! Hike 120 miles of trails, go horseback riding, or just go for a swim at Gunpowder Falls State Park.

• See what life was like in the 18th through 20th centuries at Jerusalem Mill Village, a living history museum near Minebank Run. For more historic structures, check out the Jericho Covered Bridge and Jericho Farm.