Question about water levels on the Patuxent River

Submitted by CheeeeeeseGromit t3_zczgv3 in ColumbiaMD

I am new to the area, and my work takes me into DC a few times a week, so I frequently go over the Patuxent River on Route 29. Lately the river has looked quite low, with so much exposed gravel/dirt banks below the trees. Is this a typical cycle the river goes through each year, getting much lower in the fall/winter?

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FineWinePaperCup t1_iyzzh62 wrote

WSSC just finished a project on Brighton Dam. And they are anticipating starting a sediment removal project this spring. I don’t think they have specially said so, but they may be lowering water levels in the reservoir to facilitate that.

https://www.wsscwater.com/watershed talks about the sediment.

Some names that may help you research more: Tridelphia Reservoir, Brighton Dam, and they are managed by WSSC (Washington suburban sanitation commission, or close to that)

Edit - oh, Brighton is the other one. The water levels under 29 are T. Howard Duckett Dam and T. Howard Duckett Reservoir. But, it still would not be unheard of that a project in one reservoir is affecting the downstream one.

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CheeeeeeseGromit OP t1_iz08yy0 wrote

I feel silly now, because I did not even realize that part of the river under 29 is part of a reservoir. Thank you for the information though!

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gutterbrain73 t1_iyzy3k5 wrote

Yes, it fluctuates. This is not unusual, and we're far from any sort of drought conditions.

Go to google maps on a PC, pull up street view at the bridge, and review the previous imagery going back to 2007. They're all from the fall which look "low" vs, the 2012 image from April.

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CheeeeeeseGromit OP t1_iz08oma wrote

That's a smart idea. Looking at historic satellite images on Google Earth confirms this as well; in the Springs the river is high, and in the Autumns the river is lower.

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70degreeevening t1_iz1ph8p wrote

Live near there. They draw down water every year in the fall.

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dangmanthrowaway t1_iyzkgkz wrote

I do not think it used to be this way. Heck, the "lake" over by milestone (in Germantown) has been a field for the last 2 or 3 years now. The whole US is seeing less water

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gutterbrain73 t1_iz0a5fe wrote

Huh? That little spit to the south of Milestone shopping center? That’s not any sort of lake, not even a stormwater retention pond. Any supply of water it might have had has been cut off by development.

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dangmanthrowaway t1_iz1eiub wrote

The one with a path around it next to the residential area that has signs that say "no swimming"

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