Friends of Fishing Creek
Who We Are
The Friends of Fishing Creek is a group of concerned citizens in and around the Fishing Creek subwatershed of Calvert County, which encompasses the town of Chesapeake Beach. This Friends group is a collaboration between the American Chestnut Land Trust (ACLT), the Chesapeake Beach Green Team, and the Chesapeake Beach Oyster Cultivation Society (CBOCS). While ACLT, the Green Team, and CBOCS operate separately and for diverse purposes, these groups come together to promote the broad ecological health of the Fishing Creek subwatershed through yearly water quality monitoring, tabling at environmental events, and more.
Water Quality in Fishing Creek
Citizen science is one of the main goals for all the Calvert Creeks Friends groups. 2023 was the first year of testing by the Friends of Fishing Creek, who tested for both nitrogen (NO23) and phosphorus (PO4) in the watershed. The results are below.
Nitrogen (NO23) Results
Phosphorus (PO4) Results
In a watershed like Fishing Creek, nitrogen concentrations below 0.7 mg/L are considered “good.” As you can see on the left map, all three sites had concentrations well below the .7 ,g/L threshold, indicating good nitrogen concentrations at these sites. With respect to phosphorus, concentrations less than .037 mg/L are considered “good.” All three sites in Fishing Creek had “good” phosphorus conditions in 2023.
About Fishing Creek
Calvert County has 22 sub-watersheds, according to the County’s Watershed Map (right). Fishing Creek is the third largest watershed in the County at 13,278 acres. Fishing Creek has 26 miles of streams and 8,831 acres of woodland (66.5% of the total watershed!). Furthermore, Fishing Creek boasts the most wetlands out of all Calvert County watersheds, totaling 505 acres. Click on the map to access the Calvert County’s interactive watershed map and learn more about Fishing creek and other watersheds in the County.
