Who We Are
The Friends of Hall Creek is a group of landowners, residents, and visitors working to protect and care for the Hall Creek watershed. We work in partnership with the American Chestnut Land Trust, its network of “friends groups,” and the Southern Maryland Conservation Alliance to learn from and contribute to regional conservation and restoration efforts.
Mission
The Friends of Hall Creek advocate for the ecological well-being of the watershed’s 21 miles of streams and over 5,000 acres of woodlands, which house diverse populations of fish and wildlife and offer indispensable ecosystem services for all to enjoy. Through science-based water quality monitoring and educational outreach, we aim to foster a mutually beneficial relationship between a healthy environment and a thriving community of residents and visitors of the Hall Creek watershed.
Vision
The Friends of Hall Creek envision the watershed as a place where clean waterways and forests sustain thriving native species populations, and human communities live consciously as stewards of the natural environment.
About Hall Creek
The Hall Creek watershed spans 10,445 acres, 740 of which have impervious land cover. “Impervious” describes land cover that is impenetrable to water. More impervious surfaces can lead to higher aquatic pollution levels. Impervious surfaces, combined with other land uses in Hall Creek, necessitate regular water quality monitoring to ensure a healthy watershed.
Water Quality Monitoring in Hall Creek
Water Quality Blitz Background
The Water Quality Blitz is a yearly, regional water quality monitoring initiative coordinated by the Southern Maryland Conservation Alliance (SMCA). The Blitz began in 2017 as a local effort by the American Chestnut Land Trust, sampling 17 sites in the Parkers Creek watershed. Each year since, the Blitz has grown in size and scope, culminating in 2024 with an astounding 128 sites sampled by 14 different organizations and across all five counties of Southern Maryland.
During the Blitz, volunteers visit sites in their watershed to collect water samples for nitrogen (NO23) analysis. NO23, one of the foremost pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay, is a critical parameter to monitor. The Blitz allows us to identify hotspots in the watershed, offering guidance for targeting restoration efforts in the future.
The Map on the right shows the 2024 NO23 results for all 128 sites sampled during the 2024 Water Quality Blitz.
Blitz Results for Hall Creek
2024 was the first year that the Friends of Hall Creek participated in the SMCA Water Quality Blitz, sampling 6 sites throughout the watershed. As you can see from the results map below, two out of the six were yellow, or “fair.” The remaining four sites were green, or “good.” With one year of data, the Friends of Hall Creek have a solid baseline for future testing and potential restoration. In the future, the Friends hope to increase the number of sites tested in the watershed as well as expand parameters to potentially include macroinvertebrates, phosphorus, turbidity, and more.
