By: Andy Yencha; Penn State Extension
 
Stormwater harms local creeks, rivers, and lakes in two major ways. It causes physical damage like flooding, streambank erosion and loss of fish habitat when too much water drains into a creek or river too quickly; and it causes water pollution because stormwater often contains harmful materials picked up when it washed across the land. These pollutants can be grouped into five broad categories.

By: Susan Boser; Penn State Extension
In Pennsylvania, we get an average of 41 inches of precipitation each year. When it rains or the snow melts, where does this water go?
In more natural areas, water is quickly able to infiltrate into the ground. A forested area allows for about 18 inches per hour of infiltration, where an average lawn allows for about 2 inches per hour.  Impervious surfaces like pavement and rooftops, offer no infiltration at all. All of the water that doesn't infiltrate flows over the ground, over roofs and through gutters on buildings, into storm drains, and into the nearest waterway –our lakes, rivers, and streams. This is stormwater.

By: Joe Quatrini; Technical Team Leader; BCCD
Have you ever seen something that was different than what you’re used to and thought “Hmm, that’s different it must be BAD!” Maybe you’re not even sure what you’re looking at but you decide you should hate it, just because it’s a change or you don’t understand it. Unfortunately, it’s almost what our brains are trained to do these days, especially in today’s society. We see something and judge it before we even try to figure out what it is. We often see this when it comes to projects we’re part of.

Take for example one initiative we are working on to help our municipalities and private landowners reduce flooding and prevent costly damage when storms hit. This initiative has to do with making stream crossings bigger. “What’s a stream crossing?” you ask. Great question and thanks for asking! A stream crossing is where a road (or a driveway) and a stream (creek, brook, run, river, etc.) intersect or cross one another. If you drive on a road and look out the window and see a stream coming right at the road and you don’t get wet, that probably means that stream is flowing through some type of pipe or bridge under the road. Obvious, right? 

By: Tess Flynn-Belles, Natural Resource Specialist, Bradford County Conservation District
Psst… hey you… yeah, you. The one wrapped up on the couch in that new blanket you got for Christmas from Grandma Tilly. It’s me, the pond out back. I know it’s cold out here, believe me! Have you looked at me lately? I have a giant sheet of ice and snow covering me. I KNOW cold! That doesn’t mean that I still don’t have a lot going on underneath it all. I’ve still got plants that are photosynthesizing, and fish are still swimming around doing their thing. There are also a lot of fun activities that you can use me for in the winter as well. Maybe you could layer up and come out and visit me for a little while? You’d be helping me and my friends out big time.

​By: Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Pennsylvania’s Commonwealth boundaries encompass at least 85,568 miles of streams and 242 major publicly accessible lakes comprising 125,119 surface water acres. Section 303 of the Federal Clean Water Act requires that states, territories, and authorized tribes, collectively referred to in the act as "states," prepare water quality standards and assess all streams and lakes. Since1972 enactment, each water body is to have calculated an upper pollution limit that maintains water quality meeting state standards for each pollutant present. Standards vary among the states depending on each state’s protected uses. In Pennsylvania, these protected uses are listed as fish consumption, recreation, public water use, and biological life.

By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, BCCD
Mud Creek, Fall Brook, Bull Run, the list of stream names goes on and on, but have you ever given any thought to how streams get their names?
First off, what’s the difference between a stream, creek, brook, run, or river anyway? Well, nothing really. The terms stream, creek, brook, or run generally refer to smaller free flowing bodies of water. Many people may consider a brook or run to be smaller than a stream or creek. Whereas, the term river is used for larger bodies of flowing water, however, at their headwaters (where they start) they are often small as well. For example, here in Bradford County, we are familiar with the Susquehanna River and recognize it for its size (width, depth). Near its headwaters in Cooperstown, NY though, the Susquehanna is no bigger than many of our smaller streams.

​By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, BCCD
Last week you read about watersheds and hopefully that got you thinking about how our actions locally impact streams and other waterbodies nearby and even regionally. Today, we’ll narrow our focus a bit to discuss stream order.
Simply put, stream order categorizes streams by their size. There’s a little more to it than that, however, its relatively uncomplicated. There’s a basic numbering system: First Order, Second Order, Third Order, and so on, that describes a stream and its position relative to other streams in a watershed. A first order stream is a ‘headwater’ stream or a stream that originates from a spring, a wetland, or a pond, etc. You may have a wet spot in a field on your property and as that spot drains downhill it starts to concentrate, picks up speed, and creates a channel with a defined bed and banks. This would be a first order stream. Sometimes what might complicate this is if someone digs a ditch across their property and after some time, it appears to be a stream and may be categorized as such. This is where some landowners may encounter issues with state or federal agencies if they try to alter or maintain that ‘ditch’ once stream characteristics start to develop. If you’ve been following this column over the last couple years, you’ve read over and over that usually the best option when dealing with water is to let it spread out and not to concentrate it. This adds another dimension to that argument where your initial solution to a problem has created a new problem for you now. 

​By: Joe Quatrini, Technical Team Leader, BCCD
What is a watershed? For some reading this article, a definition or explanation may be easy to come by either due to where you live, your profession, or what your hobbies may be. For others, maybe it’s a word you hear on the nightly news or on social media around discussions led by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and regulations associated with the Chesapeake Bay. Or maybe this is the first time you’ve heard it.