Other watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay
Bohemia Creek || Broad Creek || C and D Canal West || Chester River || Choptank River || Deep Creek || Elk Creek || Gravelly Branch || Gum Branch || Marshyhope Creek || Nanticoke River || Perch Creek || Pocomoke River || Sassafras River || Wicomico
Chester River
Background  
The Chester River is a pipe-shaped river with its narrow stem in Delaware and its wide bowl opening into the Bay between Eastern Neck Island and the north end of Kent Island in Maryland. The Chester River watershed is located on the western edge of Delaware in New Castle and Kent Counties. Cypress Branch, the most northerly stream, drains southwestward, while Sewell Branch directly below drains in a westerly direction. Furthest to the south in the Chester River Watershed is Gravelly Run, which drains northwestward and meets Sewell Branch several kilometers west of the Maryland-Delaware state line.

The land use within the watershed is dominated by agriculture, wetlands, and forests. Hartly, which lies on the southern border of the watershed, is the only incorporated town.

DNREC's Wetland Monitoring and Assessment Program (WMAP) has been developing scientifically robust methods to monitor and evaluate wetlands in Delaware on a watershed basis. Learn more about the health of the wetlands in this watershed from the DNREC Wetlands Monitoring and Assessment Program.
Water Quality  
Plants and Wildlife  
Further Resources  



View of the Naudain Tract of the Blackbird State Forest taken from a trail
Photo credit: Patricia Hurley