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The Potomac River springs from southwest Maryland (MD). The river then forms part of the borders between MD and Washington, DC (the District of Columbia) on the left bank and the State of West Virginia (WV) and the Commonwealth of Virginia (VA) on the right bank. Up to its right bank, the entire Potomac River is considered part of MD, with the exception of a small tidal portion within DC. The river pours out 13000 gallons of water a minute.
About 300 miles (483 km) from the source, the Potomac River's estuarine portion commences. About 11 km² of water enters the estuary each year (250 m³/s) at the fall line at Little Falls. Fall line flow is quite variable across months and years, highest during the spring freshet and lowest in late summer (in the absence of hurricanes or major storms).
The river's source is 396 m above sea level and it drops to 61 m at Morgantown, West VirginiaMorgantown is a city located in Monongalia County, West Virginia on the banks of the Monongahela River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 26,809. Morgantown is home to West Virginia University which constitues 913 acres (3. 7 km²). Once the Potomac drops from the PiedmontPiedmont is the region of the eastern United States which lies between the coastal plain, from which it is divided by the fall line, and the eastern mountain ranges, the Appalachian Mountains. The width of the Piedmont varies, being quite narrow or vanish to the Coastal Plain, tides further influence the river as it passes through DC and beyond. Salinity in the Potomac River Estuary increases thereafter with distance downstream. The estuary also widens, reaching 11 statute miles (17 km) wide at its mouth, between Point Lookout, MD, and Smith Point, VA, before merging into Chesapeake Bay.
Major Potomac tributaries include the Shenandoah RiverThis article is about the river in Virginia in the United States. For other uses, see Shenandoah River (disambiguation The Shenandoah River is a tributary of the Potomac River, approximately 150 mi (241 km) long, in the U. states of Virginia and West Virg (WV and VA) and the Monocacy RiverThe Monocacy River is a free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is approximately 58 statute miles (93. 3 km) long, with a drainage area of about 744 mi² (1,927 km²). It is the la (MD) above the fall-line and the Anacostia RiverThe Anacostia River is a river that flows about 8. 5 km) from Prince George's County in Maryland, to cut through from east to south in Washington, DC, where it empties into the Potomac River. The Anacostia River was originally known simply as "the Eastern (DC and MD) and Occoquan River (VA) below the fall-line.
Over 5 million people live within the Potomac watershedFor a term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). A watershed or water basin is the region of land that drains into a specified body of water, such as a river, lake, sea, or ocean. Rain that falls anywhere within a given body of wat, where precipitation provides the equivalent of over 8 m³ (more than 2100 gallons) of water per person per year.
The name Potomac is a European spelling of an Algonquin name which supposedly means 'river of swans.' Other accounts say the name means 'place where people trade' or 'the place to which tribute is brought' and that the name translated as 'river of swans' was another word, 'Cohongorooton.' The spelling of the name has been simplified over the years from Patawomeke to Patowmack in the 18th century and now Potomac.
Being situated in an area rich in American history and American heritage has led to the Potomac being nicknamed "the Nation's River." George Washington, USA's first president, was born in, surveyed and spent most of his life within the Potomac basin. All of DC, the nation's capital city, also lies within the watershed. The 1859 siege of Harper's Ferry along the river's right bank was a precursor to numerous epic battles of the American Civil War in and around the Potomac and its tributaries.
The Patowmack Canal was intended by George Washington to connect the tidewater near Georgetown with Cumberland, MD. Started in 1785, it was not completed until 1802. Financial troubles closed the canal in 1830. The C&O Canal operated along the banks of the Potomac in Maryland from 1850 to 1924 and also connected Cumberland to Washington, DC. This allowed freight to be transported around the rapids known as Great Falls of the Potomac , as well as many other, smaller rapids.
With increasing mining and agriculture upstream and urban sewage and runoff downstream, water quality in the Potomac River deteriorated. This created conditions of severe eutrophication. It is said that President Abraham Lincoln used to escape to the highlands on summer nights to escape the river's stench. In the 1960s, with dense green algal blooms covering the river's surface, President Lyndon Johnson declared the river "a national disgrace" and set in motion a long-term effort to reduce sewage pollution and restore the beauty and ecology of this historic river. By the end of the 20th century, there was notable success, as massive algal blooms vanished and recreational fishing and boating rebounded. Still, the aquatic habitat of the Potomac River and its tributaries remain vulnerable to eutrophication; heavy metals, pesticides and other toxic chemicals; over-fishing; alien species; and pathogens associated with Fecal coliform bacteria and shellfish diseases.
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