Linganore Creek is a 13.5 miles (21.7 km) tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 of the Monocacy River

Monocacy River

The Monocacy River is a free-flowing tributary of the Potomac River, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean via the Chesapeake Bay. The river is long, with a drainage area of about...

 in Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County, Maryland

Frederick County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering the southern border of Pennsylvania and the northeastern border of Virginia. As of the 2010 Census, the population was 233,385....

. The stream is formed from the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of the north and south forks of the Linganore (39.4489911°N 77.2216489°W), about 10 miles (16.1 km) east-northeast of the city of Frederick

Frederick, Maryland

Frederick is a city in north-central Maryland. It is the county seat of Frederick County, the largest county by area in the state of Maryland. Frederick is an outlying community of the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is part of a greater...

. The creek runs roughly southwest to the Monocacy River, which drains to the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

. The watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 area of the creek is 83.1 square miles (215.2 km²).

Lake Linganore, an impoundment

Dam

A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are...

 built on the creek about 4 miles (6 km) east of Frederick, is the principal source of drinking water

Drinking water

Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...

 for the city. It is also a drinking water source for the central portion of Frederick County. The community of Lake Linganore

Lake Linganore, Maryland

Lake Linganore is an unincorporated community in Frederick County, Maryland, United States.The community consists of "villages", essentially neighborhoods, centered around a system of lakes man-made lakes, the centerpiece of which is Lake Linganore...

takes its name from the lake.

External links

• Lake Linganore Source Water Protection Plan – Frederick County
• Lower Linganore Creek Stream Corridor Assessment Survey (2005) – Maryland Department of Natural Resources & Frederick County
• Action Plan for the Linganore Source Water Protection Plan - Frederick County
• Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance