West Creek (Pennsylvania)

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Coordinates: 41°11′06″N 76°23′28″W / 41.1851°N 76.3912°W / 41.1851; -76.3912
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West Creek
West Creek on the outskirts of Benton, looking upstream
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationHuckleberry Mountain in Davidson Township, Sullivan County, Pennsylvania
 • elevationbetween 1,780 and 1,800 feet (540 and 550 m)
Mouth 
 • location
Fishing Creek in Benton Township, Columbia County, Pennsylvania
 • elevation
735 ft (224 m)
Length9.1 mi (14.6 km)
Basin size17.2 sq mi (45 km2)
Discharge 
 • averagetypically less than 2 m3/s or 71 cu ft/s
Basin features
ProgressionFishing Creek → Susquehanna River → Chesapeake Bay
Tributaries 
 • rightYork Hollow, Spencer Run

West Creek is a tributary of

Catskill Formation, and the Huntley Mountain Formation. The creek's watershed has an area of 16.6 square miles (43 km2), most of which is agricultural, forested, or urban land. A small number of dams, mills, and schoolhouses were built on West Creek in the 19th and early 20th century. West Creek has the highest level of biodiversity
of any stream in the upper Fishing Creek watershed.

Course

West Creek begins on Huckleberry Mountain in Davidson Township, Sullivan County. It flows east for several hundred feet before turning south-southeast for several tenths of a mile, exiting Sullivan County and entering Jackson Township, Columbia County. It then turns south-southwest for a short distance, reaching the base of Huckleberry Mountain and crossing Pennsylvania Route 118, before southeast for a few miles in a valley, receiving one unnamed tributary from the left and another from the right. The creek then enters Sugarloaf Township and receives another unnamed tributary from the left and turns south. For the next few miles, it flows alongside West Creek Road and receives another unnamed tributary from the right. It then crosses Pennsylvania Route 239 and receives York Hollow, its first named tributary, from the right. The creek then turns southeast for several miles, flowing alongside Pennsylvania Route 239 and receiving another unnamed tributary from the left and entering Benton Township. It turns south for more than a mile, still flowing alongside Pennsylvania Route 239 and crossing it several times. The creek then exits its valley and turns south-southwest, flowing along the edge of a plain. After several tenths of a mile, it receives Spencer Run, its second and final named tributary, from the right and then turns south for more than a mile, passing along the western border of Benton. The creek then turns south-southeast and exits Benton. A few tenths of a mile further downstream, it reaches its confluence with Fishing Creek.[1]

West Creek joins Fishing Creek 21.72 miles (34.95 km) upstream of its mouth.[2]

Hydrology

The water temperature in West Creek in the summer can be as high as 25 °C (77 °F), which is 3°C (5.4°F) higher than coldwater fish can tolerate. Between May 2010 and July 2011, it ranged from below 0 °C (32 °F) in February and March 2011 to 25 °C (77 °F) in August 2010.[3]

Between May 2010 and July 2011, the concentration of

dissolved oxygen in West Creek ranged from slightly under eight milligrams per liter (4.6×10−6 oz/cu in) in May 2010 to nearly seventeen milligrams per liter (9.8×10−6 oz/cu in) in late January 2011. This is well above the minimum required concentration of dissolved oxygen for optimal fish habitation.[3]

West Creek is less affected by episodic acidification than most of the rest of the upper Fishing Creek watershed, with the exception of

aluminum in West Creek is under 70 micrograms per liter (0.0049 gr/imp gal), considerably less than the concentration needed to kill fish. The aluminum concentration is, in fact, usually approximately zero and is often under 40 micrograms per liter (0.0028 gr/imp gal). However, early in 2011, the concentration was observed twice to be nearly 60 micrograms per litre (0.0042 gr/imp gal).[3]

The discharge of West Creek is usually less than two cubic meters per second (71 cu ft/s). However, it sometimes is between two and five cubic meters per second (71 and 177 cu ft/s) and has occasionally been as high as nearly ten cubic meters per second (350 cu ft/s).[3] The conductance of the creek ranges from slightly over 40 to more than 60 micro-siemens per centimeter.[4]

Geography and geology

The elevation near the mouth of West Creek is 735 feet (224 m) above sea level.[5] The elevation of the creek's source is between 1,780 and 1,800 feet (540 and 550 m) above sea level.[1]

The rock in the southern part of the watershed of West Creek is of the

Mississippian and Devonian periods.[3]

Watershed

The watershed of West Creek has an area of 17.2 square miles (45 km2).[2] The creek's mouth is in the United States Geological Survey quadrangle of Benton. However, its source is in the quadrangle of Elk Grove.[5]

There is significant agricultural activity done in the lower reaches of the watershed of West Creek and there are also some residential areas. Additionally, there are some agricultural lands in the upper reaches of the watershed. Much of the rest of the watershed is forested land.[3] Some of the most downstream parts of the watershed are urban.[4]

History and etymology

West Creek has been known by its current name since at least the late 1830s.[6] The creek was entered into the Geographic Names Information System on August 2, 1979. Its identifier in the Geographic Names Information System is 1192054.[5]

In 1799, a schoolhouse was constructed on West Creek near Benton. It was one of the first schoolhouses in the vicinity of Benton.

timber-producing business on the creek, run by J. Harvey Creveling.[6]

In 1881, J. J. McHenry constructed a

box beam or girders bridge carrying Pennsylvania Route 239 was built in 2004. It is located 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Benton and is 55.1 feet (16.8 m) long.[10]

In 1914, the Benton Water Supply Company constructed a

campground called the West Creek Gap Campgrounds was established at the headwaters of West Creek in 1979 by the wife of George Mikulski.[11]

Biology

There are 41

Trichoptera (caddisflies).[4]

There are a total of eight species of wild fish in West Creek.

creek chub.[3]

In 2011, the habitat quality of upper Fishing Creek and its tributaries were rated on a scale of 1 to 200 (with a higher rating indicating better habitability) by Point Park University and the Fishing Creek Sportsmans' Association. The headwaters of West Creek were given a rating of 192. The rating is significantly lower further downstream, with it being 175 downstream of the crossing of Pennsylvania Route 239. The rating averages 138 where the creek is in Benton and the lowest rating is 115. This rating occurred downstream of the Market Street bridge in Benton.[3]

The

Shannon Diversity Index, which is commonly used to measure the diversity of biological communities, of West Creek is slightly over 2.5. The Hilsenhoff Biotic Index, a measure of pollution-tolerant macroinvertebrates, on much of the creek ranges from 1.6 to 2.5, although an area of the creek near Benton ranges from 2.6 to 3.5. There is little riparian buffering along the sections of West Creek where agriculture is done.[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c United States Geological Survey, The National Map Viewer, retrieved March 5, 2015
  2. ^ a b Pennsylvania Gazetteer of Streams (PDF), November 2, 2001, retrieved December 14, 2014
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Matthew Opdyke (August 2011), Fishing Creek Watershed Coldwater Conservation Plan (PDF), retrieved May 3, 2014
  4. ^ a b c Matthew R. Opdyke, Conservation Assessment on Fishing Creek in Columbia and Sullivan Counties (PDF), retrieved May 4, 2014
  5. ^ a b c Geographic Names Information System, Feature Detail Report for: West Creek, retrieved March 5, 2015
  6. ^ a b c J.H. Battle, ed. (1887), History of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, retrieved May 3, 2014
  7. ^ John Gosse Freeze (1888), A History of Columbia County, Pennsylvania: From the Earliest Times, retrieved May 3, 2014
  8. ^ a b J.H. Beers (1915), Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, Pennsylvania, retrieved May 4, 2014
  9. ^ Laurence L. Knoebel Bridge, retrieved May 4, 2014
  10. ^ Columbia County, retrieved March 5, 2015
  11. ISBN 9780880230285
    , retrieved May 3, 2014

41°11′06″N 76°23′28″W / 41.1851°N 76.3912°W / 41.1851; -76.3912

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