Clinton County Watersheds

A watershed is an area, or basin, of land where all of the water (from precipitation events, etc...) drains downhill (from ridge tops, hillsides, etc....) to a stream, creek, river, lake or ocean.  Small watersheds make up larger ones, or, the land areas drained by small streams make up the watersheds of the larger streams into which they flow.  For example, all of the watersheds in this county are part of the Susquehanna River Basin (i.e.,watershed), which in turn is a part of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Everyone lives within a watershed, no matter how far from a stream, creek, river, lake or ocean they live.

There are many watersheds located within Clinton County's boundaries.  The largest is the West Branch of the Susquehanna.  All water eventually drains into the West Branch.  On a slightly smaller scale there are several watersheds in our county, which include Kettle Creek, Cooks Run, Beech Creek, Tangascootack Creek, Shintown Run, Drury Run, Paddy's Run, Sinnemahoning Creek, Young Woman's Creek, Hyner Run, Chatham Run, Fishing Creek, Long Run, McElhattan Creek, and Bald Eagle Creek, just to name a few.  Each of these watersheds are also a part of the West Branch Watershed.

Because smaller watersheds make up larger watersheds, everyone lives in a watershed!
 

What is a Watershed Association?

A watershed association is a group of  local citizens that have come together to support the environmental needs of a particular watershed.  The Clinton County Conservation District provides technical assistance to these groups through their Watershed Specialist.  Clinton County currently supports three watershed associations: Beech Creek, Kettle Creek and Sugar Valley.

Each of these groups perform water sampling, macroinvertebrate sampling and assessments.  They take this information to prioritize problem areas in the watershed, and then apply for funding to solve each problem.  This whole process can take years depending on funding availability, volunteers, weather, accessibility to the watershed, support from landowners and the complexity of each situation.

Each of the current watershed associations face different problems.  Beech Creek has been mostly destroyed by Acid Mine Drainage.  Sugar Valley Watershed Association formed to educate landowners on the importance of Best Management Practices in the Fishing Creek Watershed due to sedimentation.   Kettle Creek plans to address both acid mine drainage and sedimentation problems.

The Clinton County Conservation District would eventually like to see a watershed group in each of its watersheds.  If you are a concerned citizen and would like more information on the watersheds in Clinton County please contact the Conservation District Watershed Specialist.

• Kettle Creek Watershed Association
• Beech Creek Watershed Association
• Sugar Valley Watershed Association
• Fishing Creek Survey (Prepared for Sugar Valley Watershed Association)
   

WATERSHED CONSERVATION

The Clinton County Conservation District is actively involved in an ongoing cooperative effort with many local and state agencies and community groups to assess and remediate two of Pennsylvania's largest water quality problems, Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) and Sedimentation.

• Cooperating agencies & Organizations 

• US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 
• DEP, HAWK RUN DISTRICT MINING OPERATIONS 
• DEP, BUREAU OF ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION 
• DEP, BUREAU OF WATERSHED CONSERVATION
• USDA, NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE 
• U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
• PENNSYLVANIA FISH AND  BOAT COMMISSION 
• LOCK HAVEN UNIVERSITY 
• CLINTON COUNTY COMMISSIONERS 
• LOCAL AREA TOWNSHIP SUPERVISORS 
• HEADWATERS RESOURCE CONSERVATION & DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL 
• HEADWATERS CHARITABLE TRUST 
• WESTERN PA COALITION OF ABANDONED MINE RECLAMATION 
• TROUT UNLIMITED
• SUGAR VALLEY WATERSHED ASSOCIATION
• BEECH CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION
• KETTLE CREEK WATERSHED ASSOCIATION

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