The Little Falls Watershed Alliance, Inc. (LFWA), is dedicated to improving the environmental health and well-being of the Little Falls Watershed. LFWA is an approved charitable and educational tax-exempt organization, as described in section 501(c)3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Please mail donations to:

Richard Yates
Interim Treasurer
5015 Westport Road
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
To report problems in the Little Falls Watershed click here.

For news and events of the Little Falls Watershed Alliance click here.

For accomplishments of LFWA during 2008 click here.

Description of the Little Falls Watershed

The Little Falls Watershed is located in the southwest corner of Montgomery County in Bethesda and Chevy Chase, MD, and in a portion of the northwest section of the District of Columbia. The waterways of the watershed consist of the Willet, Little Falls and Minnehaha Branches (sometimes referred to below as creeks), several smaller tributaries, and an extensive system of urban/suburban storm sewers that feed into them. The Willet Branch flows into the Little Falls Branch, which continues to the Potomac River. The Minnehaha Branch flows into the Potomac to the north of the Little Falls Branch. For a more detailed description of Little Falls Watershed, visit the Montgomery County site. Scroll down the page for some very nifty maps of the Montgomery County Portion of the watershed.

Within the watershed are the commercial districts of the Bethesda Central Business District, Friendship Heights, Westwood Centers I and II, and stores along River Road near the Kenwood neighborhood. Two country clubs, Kenwood and Chevy Chase, are located in the watershed with the latter containing one of the headwaters that flows into the Little Falls Branch. In the Montgomery County portion of the watershed is the Little Falls Stream Valley, a park under the jurisdiction of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC). With the exception of some other, much smaller parks and schools, the remainder of the watershed consists of residential housing, including high-rise and low-rise buildings and single family houses. Development began in earnest in the late 1940s. The trees and shrubbery in these neighborhoods are typically old and dense.

The property within the watershed has become ever more valuable due to good schools, the proximity to shopping and entertainment facilities, and the presence of subway stations along the red line of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s railway system. In an effort to encourage the use of mass transit, Montgomery County has designated much of the watershed for high-density development. New construction of high-rise commercial and residential buildings has grown apace. Many older, single-family homes have been supplanted by larger houses. For more information on the Little Falls Watershed area and its history, click here.
Please click on the map for a detailed version.
If you are interested in a more interactive way of looking at the Little Falls Watershed, please click here to download the Little Falls Watershed Google Earth module. Once you have downloaded the module, simply double-click on it; Google Earth will automatically add it for your viewing pleasure.

If you do not currently have a copy of the free Google Earth software, please click here to learn more about it and to download a copy.
If you're interested in getting involved with LFWA, please click here for ways you can help.
The LFWA logo is based on a leaf from a Tulip Tree. The veins in the leaf are a mirrored image of all the arms of Little Falls Branch, the particular stream whose watershed we aim to protect.