Talbot County consists of two large watersheds, or drainage basins. The Chester (Wye, Miles) and Choptank (Tuckahoe, Choptank) river watersheds.

 

Photo credit - https://www.choosecleanwater.org/blog/2017/12/21/member-highlight-shorerivers

Choptank River Watershed

The Choptank River is a major tributary of the Chesapeake Bay on the Delmarva Peninsula. The watershed covers about 1,756 km² (675 mi²) and is dominated by working lands—approximately 58% agriculture (cropland and extensive poultry production), 33% forest, and 9% urban/developed area.

For local planning and tracking, the Choptank watershed is commonly grouped into the following sub-watersheds:

  • 0082 — Upper Choptank

  • 0083 — Lower Choptank

  • 0084 — Tuckahoe

Chester River Watershed

The Chester River is another important Eastern Shore tributary to the Chesapeake Bay system, with a watershed spanning roughly 250,000 acres.

Locally, the Chester River Watershed is often broken out into these sub-watersheds:

  • 0085 — Miles River

  • 0086 — Wye River

  • 0087 — Bay Hundred

Reference
[1] USDA-NRCS / Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP), Choptank River Watershed final report.