Cameron Run is a 3 miles (4.8 km) tributary

Tributary

A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...

 stream

Stream

A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...

 of the Potomac River

Potomac River

The Potomac River flows into the Chesapeake Bay, located along the mid-Atlantic coast of the United States. The river is approximately long, with a drainage area of about 14,700 square miles...

, located in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. A third-order stream, it is formed by the confluence

Confluence

Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of Backlick Run and Holmes Run. It flows eastward from Alexandria

Alexandria, Virginia

Alexandria is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of 2009, the city had a total population of 139,966. Located along the Western bank of the Potomac River, Alexandria is approximately six miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.Like the rest of northern Virginia, as well as...

 and forms the border between Fairfax County

Fairfax County, Virginia

Fairfax County is a county in Virginia, in the United States. Per the 2010 Census, the population of the county is 1,081,726, making it the most populous jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia, with 13.5% of Virginia's population...

 and Alexandria before opening into Hunting Creek

Hunting Creek

Hunting Creek is a cove and tributary stream of the Potomac River between the City of Alexandria and Fairfax County in Virginia. It is formed by the confluence of Cameron Run and Hooff Run. The community of Huntington takes its name from the creek. Jones Point forms the north side. Dyke Marsh is...

 and then into the Potomac River. The lower course near Eisenhower Avenue is largely channelized and flows just north of the Capital Beltway

Interstate 495 (Capital Beltway)

Interstate 495 is a Interstate Highway that surrounds the United States' capital of Washington, D.C., and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. I-495 is widely known as the Capital Beltway or simply the Beltway, especially when the context of Washington, D.C., is clear...

 until it crosses under it near Telegraph Road

Virginia State Route 241

State Route 241 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It runs from U.S. Route 1 in Fairfax County north along North Kings Highway through Huntington, and then on Telegraph Road into Alexandria to end at State Route 236....

 The lower mile or so is tidal and was navigable

Navigability

A body of water, such as a river, canal or lake, is navigable if it is deep, wide and slow enough for a vessel to pass. Preferably there are few obstructions such as rocks or trees to avoid. Bridges must have sufficient clearance. High water speed may make a channel unnavigable. Waters may be...

 in colonial times. Cameron Run Regional Park

Cameron Run Regional Park

Cameron Run Regional Park is a park operated by the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority located near Cameron Run on Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria, Virginia. The Park features batting cages, a full 18 hole miniature golf course, and a waterpark. The waterpark, known as Great Waves, has a...

, a water park, lies along a portion of the stream.

Flooding concerns

Cameron run flood

Flood

A flood is an overflow of an expanse of water that submerges land. The EU Floods directive defines a flood as a temporary covering by water of land not normally covered by water...

ed in 2000 and again in 2006, devastating some of the low-lying parts of Huntington

Huntington, Virginia

Huntington is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population was 11,267 at the 2010 census. To the east is Belle Haven, Fairfax County, Virginia and to the south Groveton, Virginia. Its main component is the namesake Huntington subdivision, a late-1940s...

. Due to increased development in 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...

, peak water flows have increased. Too much sediment from the stream, some of it from the Woodrow Wilson Bridge

Woodrow Wilson Bridge

The Woodrow Wilson Memorial Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Potomac River between the independent city of Alexandria, Virginia and Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. While over the water near the Virginia shore, it crosses the southern tip of the District of...

 project (begun in 1999), has reduced the depth of the channel

Channel (geography)

In physical geography, a channel is the physical confine of a river, slough or ocean strait consisting of a bed and banks.A channel is also the natural or human-made deeper course through a reef, sand bar, bay, or any shallow body of water...

, causing flooding problems. Local governments and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are working on a solution.

External links

• Northern Virginia Watersheds Wiki