Choptank Watershed

The Choptank Watershed basin is approximately 509,000 acres in size and is located in the Delmarva Peninsula. The Choptank River basin drains approximately 448,000 acres in Maryland, including portions of Caroline, Dorchester, Queen Anne's and Talbot Counties in the middle of the Eastern Shore. Larger water bodies include the Choptank, Little Choptank, and Tred Avon Rivers, and Broad, Harris and Tuckahoe Creeks. The Choptank River basin lies entirely within the Atlantic Coastal Plain physiographic region.

Within the agricultural areas, there are approximately 781 farms in Maryland. Delaware has 115 farms in the watershed. The average farm size is 330 acres. Major agricultural crops produced are corn, beans, barley, wheat and vegetables. Poultry production is an important industry in the watershed.

The following are approximate acres in the Maryland portion of the watershed based on land use:

Maps of the Watershed

The following documents require Adobe Acrobat.

Choptank watershed (PDF; 258 KB)
Land Use (PDF; 53 KB)

Additional Information

More information can be found at the EPA's Surf Your Watershed website.

Local Contacts

Caroline County Field Service Center
Jack King
Phone: 410-479-1202 ext. 3
Email: jack.king@md.usda.gov

Dorchester County Field Service Center
Gene Skinner
Phone: 410-228-5640 ext. 3
Email: eugene.skinner@md.usda.gov

Queen Anne's County Field Service Center
Patrick Barry
Phone: 410-758-1671
Email: patrick.barry@md.usda.gov

Talbot County Field Service Center
Teresa Kampmeyer
Phone: 410-822-1577 ext. 3
Email: teresa.kampmeyer@md.usda.gov

Program Contacts by State

Program Contacts - Maryland

Patty Engler
Resource Conservationist
Phone: 410-489-7987
Email: patricia.engler@md.usda.gov

Mark Rose
Assistant State Conservationist for Programs
Phone: 443-482-2910
Email: mark.rose@md.usda.gov

Program Contacts - Delaware

Paul Petrichenko
Assistant State Conservationist for Programs
Phone: 302-678-4180
Email: Paul.Petrichenko@de.usda.gov

Back to CSP 2006