Topic Page: Potomac River

Appalachian Plateau (AP), Valley and Ridge (VR), Piedmont Plateau (PP), Blue Ridge (BL), Coastal Plain (CP)
smallmouth bass, channel catfish, spottail shiner, spotfin shiner, bluntnose minnow, redhorse sucker, redbreast sunfish, bluegill, tessellated darter
beaver, muskrat, common snapping turtle, eastern painted turtle, great blue heron, bald eagle, osprey, Canada goose
mayflies (Anthopotamus, Caenis, Ephoron, Serratella, Stenonema, Tricorythodes), caddisflies (Hydropsyche, Cheumatopsyche, Hydroptila, Potamyia, Macrostemum), true flies (Thienemannimyia, Tanytarsus, Cricotopus, Polypedilum, Cryptochironomus, Synorthocladius)
smallmouth bass, channel catfish, common carp, northern pike, muskellunge, Asiatic clam, hydrilla, Eurasian watermilfoil
second-largest tributary to Chesapeake Bay, 174 km tidal/estuarine section
High, but only 3 impoundments >4 km2; >60 blockages in the Anacostia basin being removed or altered for fish passage.


Potomac River near Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia.
(photo by A. C. Benke)
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Full text Article Potomac River
Relief: 1481 m Basin area: 37,995 km 2 Mean discharge: 320 m 3 /s Mean annual precipitation: 99 cm Mean air temperature: 12.3°C...