Socio-Economic Base Report: Delmarva River Basins Survey

Excerpts from the report: The Delmarva Peninsula is approximately 174 miles from north to south and at the widest point is 74 miles from east to west. The region, encompassing a 7,500 square mile area, contains approximately 3,565,000 acres of land and 1,282,000 acres of various types of water. Since the northern boundary of this area is located at the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, portions of Cecil County, Maryland and New Castle County, Delaware, are included in the survey area. In addition, the survey area encompasses two counties in Delaware (Kent and Sussex) eight counties in Maryland (Kent, Queen Anne's, Talbot, Caroline, Dorchester, Wicomico, Somerset, and Worcester) and two counties in Virginia (Accomack and Northampton). The level to gently rolling coastal plains of the Delmarva Peninsula are deeply incised by streams and tidal estuaries. The Peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by tidewater and the shoreline is irregular with numerous bays and inlets. The three bodies of water surrounding the Peninsula are: the Chesapeake Bay to the west, Delaware Bay to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east-southeast. The purpose of this report is to provide a general overview of the social, political, and economic conditions existing within the survey area and to serve as a basic point of reference for a series of more specialized reports. The objective of the entire series of reports -- inventorying existing resources, documenting past economic trends, and presenting future projections -- is to provide detailed information to aid policy makers in planning for the orderly development, utilization, management, and conservation of water and related land resources within the survey area. This particular report contains a history of the socio-economic development of the Peninsula and a summary analysis of the region's population, economy, and agriculture. Included are a brief history of the Peninsula and descriptions of the Peninsula's population, general economy, agriculture, land use, and water use along with supporting data descriptive of current conditions and recent trends. Additional appendices present the results of detailed analyses of economic conditions on the Peninsula today and of conditions expected to prevail in the future.