Delmarva River Basins Cooperative Survey: Water and Land Resources, Main Report

Excerpts from the report: The Delmarva River Basins Survey area includes all of the Maryland Eastern Shore below the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, the State of Delaware below the Canal, and the Virginia Eastern Shore. This includes the Maryland Counties of Worcester, Somerset, Wicomico, Dorchester, Talbot, Caroline, Queen Annes, Kent and part of Cecil; Sussex Kent and part of New Castle Counties in Delaware; and Accomack and Northampton Counties in Virginia. Thirty percent of the survey area is in Delaware, 12 percent is in Virginia, and 58 percent is in Maryland. The area covers 7,500 square miles, is about 174 miles long, 74 miles wide at the widest point, and includes approximately 3,558,000 acres of land and 1,282,000 acres of water. It is characterized by low topographic relief typical of the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Elevations range from sea level to about 150 feet. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the water and related land resources of the Delmarva River Basins; identify problems associated with their use and development; determine present and future needs for resource development; and propose alternatives for the orderly development of these resources. The overall intent of the study is to improve the quality of life through contributions to the objectives of national economic development (NED) and environmental quality (EQ). The NED objective is to increase the value of the nation’s output of goods and services and improve national economic efficiency. The EQ objective is to manage, conserve, preserve, create, restore, and improve the quality of natural and cultural resources and ecological systems