Broad Creek is a tributary of the lower Susquehanna River

Susquehanna River

The Susquehanna River is a river located in the northeastern United States. At long, it is the longest river on the American east coast that drains into the Atlantic Ocean, and with its watershed it is the 16th largest river in the United States, and the longest river in the continental United...

 located in Harford County, Maryland

Maryland

Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...

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Broad Creek originates on the west side of Constitution Road, just south of the Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

 state line. It runs generally south-southeast for 17 miles (27.4 km) to the Conowingo Reservoir

Conowingo Dam

The Conowingo Dam is a large hydroelectric dam in the Lower Susquehanna River. The dam, one of the largest non-federal hydroelectric dams in the US, is classified as a medium height, masonry gravity type dam...

 along the Susquehanna. Along the way, it flows through Broad Creek Memorial Scout Reservation, where it is dammed to create Lake Aaron A. Straus. Downstream from the dam, the creek forms a noteworthy gorge. At the east edge of the reservation, about 2 miles (3.2 km) from its mouth, the creek meets the headwaters of the reservoir.

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...

 is 40.6 square miles (105.2 km²). Principal land use

Land use

Land use is the human use of land. Land use involves the management and modification of natural environment or wilderness into built environment such as fields, pastures, and settlements. It has also been defined as "the arrangements, activities and inputs people undertake in a certain land cover...

s in the watershed are agriculture

Agriculture

Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...

 and forest

Forest

A forest, also referred to as a wood or the woods, is an area with a high density of trees. As with cities, depending where you are in the world, what is considered a forest may vary significantly in size and have various classification according to how and what of the forest is composed...

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