MURDERKILL RIVER

The 'Murderkill River' is a river flowing to Delaware Bay in central Delaware in the United States. It is approximately 20 mi (32 km) long and drains an area of 106 square miles (275 km²) on the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
The Murderkill flows for its entire length in southern Kent County. It rises just west of Felton and flows generally east-northeastwardly, through Killen Pond^[1] (site of Killens Pond State Park^[2]) and Coursey Pond,^[3] and past Frederica to Bowers, where it enters Delaware Bay about 0.5 miles (1 km) south of the mouth of the St. Jones River.DeLorme (2004). ''Maryland Delaware Atlas & Gazetteer''. p.52. Yarmouth, Maine: DeLorme. ISBN 0-89933-279-X. The Murderkill River is tidally influenced from its mouth upstream to just past Frederica, and is considered by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be navigable for the lower 10 miles (16 km) of its course.^[4]
According to 2002 data from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 55% of the area of the Murderkill River's watershed is occupied by agricultural uses; 17% is forested; 14% is urban; 9% is wetland; and 2% is water.
The river has suffered a persistent pollution from eutrophication and organic waste in agricultural runoff. Its estuary is considered to have abnormally low rates of dissolved oxygen.

Contents

Variant names

See also

References

Variant names

According to the Geographic Names Information System, the Murderkill River has also been known historically as:

★ Mordare Kijhlen

★ Mother Creek

★ Mother Kill

★ Motherkill

★ Motherkiln Creek

★ Mothers Creek

★ Murder Kill Creek

★ Murther Creek

★ Murtherkill

See also

★ List of Delaware rivers

References

1.
2. Killens Pond State Park website
3.
4. Navigable waterways of the Philadelphia District. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Philadelphia District