Neabsco Creek

Neabsco Creek is a 13.9-mile-long (22.4 km)^[1] tributary of the lower tidal segment of the Potomac River in eastern Prince William County, Virginia. The Neabsco Creek watershed covers about 27 square miles (70 km²). The creek has served as a vital waterway for trade and commerce in northern Virginia since the eighteenth century.

The Neabsco's watershed is highly developed because of its proximity to the I-95 corridor and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The EPA Office of Water recently identified the Neabsco Creek watershed as an "area of significant habitat degradation due to a loss of natural land cover and storm water management facilities designed without consideration for environmental conditions." Most of Dale City and Woodbridge empty into Neabsco Creek.

Prince William County has made significant investments to offset stormwater impacts throughout the watershed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposal to dredge Neabsco Creek to help alleviate flooding on Route 1 was never funded, and the area continues to flood on a routine basis. Congressman Tom Davis secured more than $4 million in funds to clean up the Dale Service Corporation's sewage treatment plant on Neabsco Creek.

Local organizations often use Neabsco Creek to highlight the values of efforts to prevent damages to waterways. What has happened to the Neabsco is unfortunate, particularly because it was preventable. Now that the damage to this watershed has been done, repairs require significant investments of tax dollars and will never restore the Neabsco to its natural state.

Featherstone National Wildlife Refuge, 325 acres (1.32 km²) of tidal marsh and riparian wetlands and woodlands, is located about 22 miles (35 km) south of Washington, D.C. at the confluence of Neabsco Creek and the Potomac River and provides a habitat for neotropical migrants, waterfowl, ospreys, and historically bald eagles.

Neabsco Creek is the site of Neabsco Iron Works, one of the first iron production furnace plantations in northern Virginia. It operated on the creek from 1737 to 1820 at a site just above the present-day I-95 crossing.

See also

• List of rivers of Virginia

References

1. ^ U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National Map, accessed August 15, 2011

External links

• Prince William Conservation Alliance
• Neabsco Iron Works

Potomac River system Cities and towns | Bridges | Islands | Tributaries | Variant names District of Columbia | Maryland | Pennsylvania | Virginia | West Virginia Streams shown as: Major tributaries • subtributaries • (subsubtributaries) • (subsubsubtributaries)

Tidal Potomac River Gulf Branch | Donaldson Run | Maddox Branch | Windy Run | Spout Run | Foundry Branch | Rock Creek | Boundary Channel | Tiber Creek | Rocky Run | Washington Channel | Anacostia River • Pope Branch • Watts Branch • Hickey Run • Northwest Branch • (Sligo Creek) • Northeast Branch • (Paint Branch) | Four Mile Run | Oxon Creek | Hunting Creek • Cameron Run | Broad Creek | Henson Creek | Swan Creek | Piscataway Creek | Little Hunting Creek | Dogue Creek | Accotink Creek • Daniels Run | Pohick Creek | Pomonkey Creek | Occoquan River • Bull Run • Broad Run • Cedar Run | Neabsco Creek | Powells Creek | Mattawoman Creek | Chicamuxen Creek | Quantico Creek | Little Creek | Chopawamsic Creek | Tank Creek | Aquia Creek | Potomac Creek • Accokeek Creek | Nanjemoy Creek | Port Tobacco River | Popes Creek (Maryland) | Gambo Creek | Piccowaxen Creek | Upper Machodoc Creek | Cuckold Creek | Wicomico River | Monroe Creek | Mattox Creek | Popes Creek (Virginia) | St. Marys River | Yeocomico River | Coan River | Hull Creek Upper Potomac River North Branch Potomac River | South Branch Potomac River | Town Creek | Little Cacapon River • North Fork Little Cacapon River • South Fork Little Cacapon River | Fifteenmile Creek | Sideling Hill Creek | Cacapon River • Lost River • Trout Run • Capon Springs Run • Dillons Run • Edwards Run • Mill Branch • North River • (Grassy Lick Run) • (Tearcoat Creek) • (Bearwallow Creek) | Sir Johns Run | Warm Spring Run | Tonoloway Creek • Little Tonoloway Creek | Sleepy Creek • Meadow Branch | Licking Creek | Cherry Run | Back Creek • Hogue Creek • Isaacs Creek • Tilhance Creek | Little Conococheague Creek | Conococheague Creek • Back Creek | Opequon Creek • Abrams Creek • Mill Creek • Middle Creek • Tuscarora Creek (West Virginia) | Antietam Creek | Shenandoah River | Little Catoctin Creek | Catoctin Creek (Virginia) | Catoctin Creek (Maryland) | Tuscarora Creek (Maryland) | Monocacy River • Rock Creek • Marsh Creek • Alloway Creek • Toms Creek • (Middle Creek) • Double Pipe Creek • (Big Pipe Creek) • (Little Pipe Creek) • Owens Creek • Tuscarora Creek • Carroll Creek • Linganore Creek • Israel Creek • Double Pipe Creek • Bush Creek • Ballenger Creek • Bennett Creek | Little Monocacy River | Goose Creek • Little River | Broad Run (Virginia) | Sugarland Run | Broad Run (Maryland) | Seneca Creek • Dry Seneca Creek • Little Seneca Creek • Great Seneca Creek | Difficult Run | Cabin John Creek | Dead Run | Little Falls Branch | Pimmit Run | Rock Run | Watts Branch | Muddy Branch Shenandoah River North Fork Shenandoah River • Cedar Creek • Smith Creek | South Fork Shenandoah River • North River • (Middle River) • South River North Branch Potomac River Stony River | Abram Creek | Savage River | Georges Creek • Laurel Run | New Creek | Limestone Run | Warrior Run | Wills Creek • Brush Creek • Little Wills Creek | Evitts Creek | Patterson Creek • Mill Creek | Dans Run | Green Spring Run South Branch Potomac River North Fork South Branch Potomac River • Mill Creek • Seneca Creek | South Fork South Branch Potomac River • Kettle Creek | Lunice Creek | Mill Run | Mill Creek | Big Run | Buffalo Creek Lakes and reservoirs Lake Accotink | Lake Anne | Lake Artemesia | Lake Bernard Frank | Lake Braddock | Breckenridge Reservoir | Brushy Fork Lake | Burke Lake | Dalecarlia Reservoir | Georgetown Reservoir | Jennings Randolph Lake | Kingman Lake | Little Seneca Lake | McMillan Reservoir | Mount Storm Lake | Lake Needwood | Sleepy Creek Lake | Stony River Reservoir | Tidal Basin | Trout Pond | Warden Lake