Eddy Creek (Lackawanna River tributary)

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Coordinates: 41°27′49″N 75°36′38″W / 41.46352°N 75.61043°W / 41.46352; -75.61043
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Eddy Creek
Eddy Creek (Lackawanna River tributary) is located in the United States
Eddy Creek (Lackawanna River tributary)
Eddy Creek (Lackawanna River tributary) is located in Pennsylvania
Eddy Creek (Lackawanna River tributary)
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationnear Pennsylvania Route 247 in Olyphant, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
 • elevationbetween 1,720 and 1,740 feet (520 and 530 m)
Mouth 
 • location
Lackawanna River in Olyphant, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania
 • coordinates
41°27′49″N 75°36′38″W / 41.46352°N 75.61043°W / 41.46352; -75.61043
 • elevation
758 ft (231 m)
Length5.7 mi (9.2 km)
Basin size7.53 sq mi (19.5 km2)
Basin features
ProgressionLackawanna River → Susquehanna River → Chesapeake Bay

Eddy Creek is a

Rock formations in the creek's vicinity include the Catskill Formation and the Llewellyn Formation. The creek is a second-order
stream.

A bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 347 across Eddy Creek was built in the 20th century. More recently, a restoration of 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the creek has been planned. The creek is designated as a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery. A greenway/connecting trail in the vicinity of the creek was proposed in the early 2000s in the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan.

Course

Eddy Creek begins near

US Route 6 and turns west-southwest and then west. After some distance, it turns north for several tenths of a mile before turning northwest for some distance. The creek then turns west for a short distance before tuning north and then north-northeast, reentering Olyphant and receiving an unnamed tributary from the right. It then turns northwest and crosses Pennsylvania Route 347 before reaching its confluence with the Lackwanna River after a few tenths of a mile.[1]

Eddy Creek joins the Lackawanna River 16.84 miles (27.10 km) upriver of its mouth.[2]

Tributaries

Eddy Creek has no named tributaries.[1] However, a 1916 book stated that several small streams discharged into the creek in its upper reaches. At the time, these streams had clear water, but were dry in the summer.[3]

Hydrology

Eddy Creek experiences total flow loss.

culm and silt left over from mining.[4] The creek is considered to be impaired by flow alterations. The likely source of the impairment is abandoned mine drainage.[5]

Eddy Creek used to have flow, but has turned into a "leaky slow trickle" that carries

ephemeral stream.[7]

The

dissolved oxygen was 66.50 percent. The pH of the creek was 6.99, and the concentration of salinity was 100 parts per million.[7]

In the early 1900s, Eddy Creek lacked

culm deposits at its mouth. However, its water was colored yellow by sulfur at that location. Further upstream, two pipes discharged mine water into the creek. One of these pipes had reddish water. However, upstream of an ash dump on the creek, the water was clear.[3]

Geography, geology, and climate

The elevation near the mouth of Eddy Creek is 758 feet (231 m) above sea level.[8] The elevation of the creek's source is between 1,720 and 1,740 feet (520 and 530 m) above sea level.[1]

At one point, Eddy Creek flows through a restored

US Route 6, it has lost its flow. Nevertheless, its channel is still discernible and its gradient is shallower. The creek loses its channel completely at the intersection of an electric transmission corridor and the Eddy Creek Mine Tunnel. It eventually reappears, but disappears again in strip pits and sinks. From Birds Eye Mine to Underwood Road, the stream channel has been completely destroyed. The creek has an engineered channel in one reach where it passes through a residential area.[4]

The streambed of Eddy Creek is dry in some reaches. Its banks are steep and contain riprap and concrete headwalls. A total of 20 percent of the land in the creek's vicinity is on impervious surfaces. The creek flows through one pipe. Its size is 84 inches (210 cm).[9]

The headwaters of Eddy Creek are in springs and wetlands in the vicinity of Marshwood, near the edge of Moosic Mountain.[4]

Catskill Formation can be seen in this area.[10]

In early October 2013, the temperature in the vicinity of Eddy Creek was found to be 68 °F (20 °C).[9] The water temperature of the creek was found to be 23.42 °C (74.16 °F) in a 2013 study.[7]

Watershed

The watershed of Eddy Creek has an area of 7.53 square miles (19.5 km2).[2] The creek is entirely within the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Olyphant.[8]

A waterfall or morphologic site known as the Marshwood Slides is in the watershed of Eddy Creek. Wetlands in the watershed include the Dunmore Swamps and Marshwood. The Marshwood Reservoir is located in the upper reaches of both the Eddy Creek watershed and the Little Roaring Brook watershed. Eddy Creek flows through forested land in a reach downstream of US Route 6.[4] Other land uses include industrial land and open space.[9]

Neighborhoods in the vicinity of Eddy Creek include the Keystone Industrial Park, the Keystone Sanitary Landfill, and LaCapra Stone & Supply. It is estimated that there is one stormwater detention facility in the watershed.[9] According to a 1992 report, development in an area near the creek would have little adverse impact on the creek.[11]

In a visual assessment of six tributaries of the Lackawanna River in 2013, Eddy Creek received the lowest visual assessment score, 100 on a scale from 0 to 200.[7] This was within the "marginal" range of 56 to 105. The creek received the lowest score in seven categories: instream cover, epifaunal substrate, embeddedness, velocity/depth regimes, sediment deposits, riffle frequency, and channel flow status.[7]

Eddy Creek is a second-order, mid-sized stream.[4]

History

Eddy Creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1198695.[8]

Historically, two breakers known as the Eddy Creek Shaft and the No. 2 Shaft were situated on the banks of Eddy Creek. In the late 1800s, a

power plant. The creek also supplied water for a washery at the Underwood Colliery.[3]

A concrete culvert bridge carrying

narrow gauge railroad that operated until 1959, shared a culvert under South Valley Avenue with the creek.[4] The borough of Throop once requested a permit to discharge stormwater into the creek.[14]

As of the early 2000s, the

channel of Eddy Creek. In the early 2000s, it was expected that 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the creek would be reclaimed by 2006.[4] As of 2014, there were plans to restore 3.5 miles (5.6 km) of the creek, starting in Spring 2015 and ending in December 2015. The project would span 169 acres (68 ha) of territory and feature regrading 30 properties. Three wetlands and two bat habitats will be affected, but no historic or archaeological sites will be, and the flow of the Lackawanna River will not be impacted.[6]

Biology

The drainage basin of Eddy Creek is a Warmwater Fishery and a Migratory Fishery.[15]

Some areas of the

Strip mine overburden piles covered in forests also occur in the creek's riparian area.[9]

Eddy Creek was described as a "low-quality aquatic resource" in a 1992 report.[11]

Recreation

In the early 2000s, the Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan recommended the creation of a greenway/connecting trail along Eddy Creek. Such a trail could link the campus of the Mid Valley School District to the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail at the mouth of the creek.[4]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d United States Geological Survey, The National Map Viewer, archived from the original on March 29, 2012, retrieved April 29, 2015
  2. ^ a b Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams (PDF), November 2, 2001, p. 60, retrieved April 29, 2015
  3. ^ a b c Pennsylvania Water Supply Commission (1916), Water Resources Inventory Report ...: Act of July 25, 1913, Part 10, pp. 28, 69
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lackawanna River Corridor Association (2001), Lackawanna River Watershed Conservation Plan (PDF), pp. 13, 62, 65–66, 129, 195–196, 289, 300–302, archived from the original (PDF) on September 23, 2015, retrieved April 30, 2015
  5. ^ 2006 Waterbody Report for Eddy Creek, United States Environmental Protection Agency, archived from the original on January 18, 2017, retrieved April 29, 2015
  6. ^
    The Times Tribune
    , Scranton, Pennsylvania, retrieved May 1, 2015
  7. ^ a b c d e Cheryl Nolan (June 25, 2014), 2013 Coldwater Heritage Partnership Grant Lackawanna River Tributaries Study/Plan (PDF), pp. 4, 7, 11, retrieved May 1, 2015
  8. ^ a b c Geographic Names Information System, Feature Detail Report for: Eddy Creek, retrieved April 29, 2015
  9. ^ a b c d e Stormwater management (MS4 & CSO) system review: a Phase One assessment and recommendation report for efficient management & sustainable infrastructure (PDF), City of Scranton and Scranton Sewer Authority, October 31, 2013, p. 241, archived from the original (PDF) on December 20, 2013, retrieved May 1, 2015
  10. JSTOR 983217
  11. ^ a b Lackawanna Valley Industrial Highway Project: Environmental Impact Statement, United States Federal Highway Administration, 1992, p. 35
  12. ^ "As A Last Resort" (PDF), The New York Times, October 6, 1889, retrieved May 1, 2015
  13. ^ "Lackawanna County", uglybridges.com, retrieved April 29, 2015
  14. ^ "General Permit Type–PAG-13", Pennsylvania Bulletin, retrieved May 1, 2015
  15. ^ "§ 93.9j. Drainage List J. Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania Lackawanna River", Pennsylvania Code, retrieved April 29, 2015
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