Double Pipe Creek, sometimes called Pipe Creek, is a major tributary of the Monocacy River in Carroll County and Frederick County in Maryland, located several miles north and west of Westminster. The creek is only 1.6 miles (2.6 km) long,[1] but is formed by the confluence of two much longer streams, Big Pipe Creek and Little Pipe Creek.
Tributaries include Bear Branch, Big Pipe Creek, Little Pipe Creek, Meadow Branch and Sam's Creek. Double Pipe Creek, the portion of Little Pipe Creek west of Union Bridge, and the western section of Sam's Creek form part of the legal boundary between Frederick County and Carroll County.
Pollution
The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) has identified water quality violations for Double Pipe Creek and tributaries, specifically for sediment, nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and bacteria. The principal sources of bacteria appear to be failing septic tanks from residences and/or businesses, pet waste and waste from farm animals (livestock).[2][3] The pollution sources for sediment include agricultural runoff and urban runoff.[4] (Although agriculture is the predominant land use in the watershed, tributaries of Double Pipe Creek flow through portions of Westminster, Taneytown, New Windsor and Union Bridge.)
Since the 1970s, Carroll County commissioners have been proposing a dam or reservoir, defeated in 1976 by petition and raised again under the title of a proposed Union Mills Reservoir.
^ abU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data. The National MapArchived 2012-03-29 at the Wayback Machine, accessed August 15, 2011